A Decade of the Thai Red Cross AIDS Research Centre

Save a Child's Life Project
Thai Red Cross Zidovudine
Donation Programme

The Thai Red Cross AIDS Research
Centre, through medical services,
also focuses on the specific needs
of special populations. Together with the
Immune Clinic, a clinic for HIV-positive
children - the first of its kind in Thailand
-is held every Tuesday morning in the
Outpatients' Department of Chulalongkorn
Hospital. All the children attending the
clinic acquired HIV antibodies from their
mothers. Many are not infected with HIV,
however, and will lose their HIV
antibodies by the age of about 15 months.
(Without intervention, about 25% of
babies born to HIV-infected mothers are
in fact infected with HIV).
In 1994, it was known that AZT
reduced the transmission rate between
mothers and newborns by almost twothirds. However, due to the its high cost,
not every HIV-infected woman could afford
it. The Thai Red Cross zidovudine
donation programme was contrived in
1996 and Her Royal Highness Princess
Soamsawali graciously accepted the role
of patron of the programme.
The program procures
zidovudine for HIV-infected pregnant
women by means of public donation. The
donation can be the form of either the
medication or financial support. By using
the donated funds, the Thai Red Cross
can purchase zidovudine in a large
quantity at low cost. The medication is
distributed throughout the country upon
the request of pregnant women's health
care providers.
After a pregnant woman has
been provided with voluntary counselling
and testing, and has been tested positive
for HIV, her health care provider can
request zidovudine for her from the Thai

Red Cross. Once the request is
approved, the medication will be
delivered to the healt h care provider
periodically.
There have b een4,482 HIVinfected mothers and 3,503 babies
receiving such medicati on throughout
this programme. The H tra mission
rate could be reduc fi 20-25% to
5.3% in Thailand. In consequence, the
programme ha benack owledged
both by Tha iathorities and by Ithe
international, ommunity, including
UNAIDS and UNICEF, as the bestpra ctice
in HIV prevention and educ ation in
Thailand. However it needclto be kept
up-to-date with medical and social
information. And as long as HIV/AIDS
remains a public health problem, such
community-to-community programmes
must exist.

Fundraising Activities for
the Donation Programme

12 THE THAI RED CROSS AIDS RESEARCH CENTRE 2002