It is estimated that there will be 14,000 newly-infected HIV cases in Thailand in 2007, comparing to 140,000 new cases found in 2004, according to Thailand's Public Health Ministry.
About 45 percent of the new cases are expected to be found in female teenagers and housewives while 20 percent in homosexual men, Dr. Somchai Pinyopornphanit, deputy director-general of the Disease Control Department under the Public Health Ministry, said Thursday.
About half of Thai young people who engage in sexual intercourse do not use condoms, according to the Public Health Ministry.
The information was released at a seminar titled Stop AIDS, Keep the Promise, to mark the upcoming World Aids Day on Dec. 1.
Although the HIV/AIDS rate in Thailand has been on the decline, said Dr. Somchai, a new concern is that HIV infection risks are rising among young people in the country.
His department found that the average age of Thai youth to experience sexual intercourse for the first time is as young as 15years old, and more than half of them do not use condoms.
He said over 50 percent of youths did not use condoms as they trusted their partners, who are mostly their friends.
From 2004 to date, about 1 million people in Thailand have been found with HIV, more than half of whom have died, leaving the number of Thais with HIV at 546,578 people, said the official.
Source:Xinhua
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