Workshop for HIV/AIDS prevention field workers

6 September 2006

(KPL) Laos needs more counselling services and greater access to health care centres to cater for patients suffering from HIV/AIDS, as well as those people in high-risk groups, including sex workers, homosexual men and intravenous drug users.

This was one of the main points of a workshop held this week for people working towards HIV/AIDS prevention in the greater Mekong Sub-Region, in Vientiane.

Deputy Director of Hygiene-Prevention and Minister of Health Dr Sithat Insisiengmai, in his opening address at the meeting, said that Laos is aware of the possible spread of the infection amongst these high-risk groups, and has developed a Strategy Plan for 2006-2010 to preventing HIV/AIDS in these groups of people.

For the past few years, the Lao Government has consistently cooperated with many organisations both inside and outside the country which have participated in implementing various in activities in order to prevent and respond to the spread of HIV/AIDS in higher-risk groups.

All countries have different strategies in addressing the problem of HIV/AIDS, in accordance with culture and resources, and Laos is currently focused on targeting high-risk groups, in a bid to keep disease rates, which are still relatively low, at a minimum.

However, as Laos is cooperating more and more with neighbouring countries in the economic sense, and opening its borders for trade purposes, the risk of further infections has become a closer reality.

Attending the workshop were representatives from Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam, who were able to exchange experiences with one another so as to encourage sustainable development this field of work in the various country networks.

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