A Decade of the Thai Red Cross AIDS Research Centre

Wednesday friends' Club
Antiednesday Friends' Club (WFC) is an organisation of HIV-positive people supported by the
Thai Red Cross Society. Being one of the largest epidemics in Thailand's long and vast Discrimination
history. Spreading at an unbelievable rate throughout the Thai population, the number of
Thais living with the disease amounts to one million people.
Even more disheartening is the cold truth that the majority of Thais living with AIDS lack the financial funds to acquire
the needed medical care or the appropriate medication required to lead a relatively healthy lifestyle. Something often overlooked,
however, even for those who have enough money for medical treatment, is the lack of emotional support and acceptance that
people living with AIDS experience from their families and Thai society in general. For this simple reason alone, it was essential
to create a support group that would not only support those infected with HIV or AIDS, but would also
provide a social forum to educate and inform others about the disease.
How was Wednesday Friends' Club formed?
The first support group of its kind, The Wednesday Friends' Club was founded in 1991 by
several AIDS patients from Chulalongkorn Hospital, who regularly travelled to the Thai Red Cross
Immune Clinic to see a doctor every Tuesday morning. While waiting to see the physician, they
gathered and talked, touching upon various issues, ranging from personal matters to the latest
findings concerning the disease which they live with. In addition to their Tuesday morning meetings,
the groups also gathered every third Wednesday of the month at Chulalongkorn University to discuss
similar matters and concerns. The group eventually evolved into a club called the Wednesday
Friends' Club since its original members met every Wednesday. The Club's membership has now
grown to more than 3,000.
The Wednesday Friends' Club provides many important psychosocial support services. These include:

The Club has helped many members and their families come to accept themselves
and revitalise family bonds. The Club has reached out to PHA in the provinces and has
assisted them in establishing similar clubs in the other parts of Thailand. Hopefully, however,
it will continue to serve as an example and pave the way for other such groups to be formed
throughout the country. One common objective of all of these groups is to allow PHA to
manage their own affairs. PHA should, after all, know more about HIV / AIDS and the
psychological issues related to the disease than others.

10 THE THAI RED CROSS AIDS RESEARCH CENTRE 2002