Thailand has held its first blood test party in Bangkok in a bid to encourage blood tests as part of a campaign to prevent HIV infection among male same-sex couples.
Launched on September 20, "Fresh Up" party was organised by Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) partner with Test Bkk, an AIDS activist group based in Bangkok. The event included stage performances, games and group discussion followed by blood tests.
"This event is the new approach to discuss and exchange attitude about HIV, so we can reach to our target group easier. It is the new approach that will draw people in" said Philip Lim, campaign coordinator of Testbkk.
According to a UNAIDS report published in August, forty-one percent of newly infected people in Thailand are men who have sex with men (MSM). According to the report, this group was also virtually absent in national strategic plans until 2007, despite Thailand's active global involvement in AIDS initiatives.
Officials said it was important to encourage the use of condoms as well as blood tests to bring down the rate of HIV infection in Thailand.
"We have a new method to promote not only condom use but also promote HIV testing. These two things have to go together. If we only promote blood testing but not condoms, it will be impossible to control HIV" said Piyathida Smutraprapoot, head of AIDS Control Division, Bangkok Metropolitan Administration.
Despite the festive mood some said they were nervous about getting tested.
"I'm still nervous. Blood testing is a big things for me because what if I find some disease that I don't expect to have. But I think it is a reasonable thing to do. If we know, so we can take care ourselves properly." said 24 year-old Charinun Trimingmitr.
Over the past decade, HIV has spread rapidly among gay men, transgender people and male sex workers in Bangkok to reach epidemic levels, fuelled partly by greater use of illicit party drugs that make people less cautious about sex, experts said.
The UNAIDS report also showed that young people in Thailand now account for seventy percent of all STI (Sexually Transmitted Infections) cases, while MSM aged between 15 and 21 years have a 12.1 percent rate of new HIV infections.
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