H.I.V.Treatment ?

[halfhansum]

Just after some information if anyone knows ..

A lad that i keep in touch with on Facebook, has informed me that he has become H.I.V. Positive, and has started treatment .

    Does anyone know if the boys have to pay for the Medicine in Thailand ? And if so, how much would they have to pay ?

[Londoner]

This issue  arose for me eight years ago and  things may have changed since then. But my recollection is that the basic medication is free (or at a minimal charge) but it is not as effective as the medication that can be bought at the hospital. The more modern medicines can be expensive.

But as I say, things may have improved.  The victim of the infection whom I support is thriving by the way. You need to  offer optimism as well as compassion (and financial support if required).

[NIrishGuy]

My friend who’s in a similar position gets totally free treatment from the Thai Goveenment scheme ( as I believe is available to all Thai people) - I can’t comment on better or worse than private but he’s been on that scheme for several years now without any specific quality driven issues arising.

 

It’s sad to say and I’m not suggesting in the slightest that your friend is “at it” but do just be aware that “I need money for (HIV) medicine can be a line for getting a farang ATM to pay out ( continually) as they know that presses certain instant sumpathy buttons in most of us. Again that’s not to say your friend is lying - in a way I HOPE he is actually !

 

For me I personally would offer more than moral support unless there was some very sound reason to differ from that as I DO believe free HIV treatment is available to all.

 

But like the last poster I think upbeat moral support is SO important to any Thai guy who tells you his diagnosis as unfortunately most Thais do still seem to think being HIV+ is simply a death sentence still, when of course with modern retrovirals it’s now absolutely not.

 

Best wishes to your friend though, I hope he gets sorted out and onto a suitable treatment plan urgently if his case is genuine.

[halfhansum]

Thanks for the reply`s Guys ..

      I believe he is genuine , as i have known him for 8 years, and see him on every visit to Pattaya .

 

      He has not asked for financial help, and i wanted to be aware of the System , just in case .

 

      It made me so sad to hear , and i will give him as much support as i can , morally and financially within limits .

      Life can be a Bitch sometimes , and i know its not the Death sentence that it used to be, but at the age of 25, having to be on            these drugs for the rest of your life, must be devastating ... 

[NIrishGuy]

For me I personally would offer more than moral support unless there was some very sound reason to differ from that as I DO believe free HIV treatment is available to all.

 

 

EDIT - for clarity I meant I "wouldn't" offer more than moral support - simple typo but one that created a totally different position that I meant.

[Londoner]

I knew embarrassingly little about HiV infection until my friend was infected. I was greatly assisted by the Terence Higgins Trust's help-line in determining how to support him. It was non-medical advice of course. What struck me at the time was how much emphasis is placed on social support and counselling in the UK while he had none, except by personal contact. One thing you should be aware of us that there is still a lot of prejudice in Thailand; you may find that your friend tells very few people of his condition. Including his family.

How much financial support you give depends on the nature of your relationship with this guy and how much you can afford. You may find that he will find it difficult to do a day's work in the early stages. I assume he had TB? this is usual and can affect health for a long time after it is treated. Be aware of pneumonia as well. Your friend must not only take the medication assiduously, he must be checked by a doctor regularly.

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[DivineMadman]

I had reason to learn a little bit about when the government supplied anti-viral meds for free a couple of years ago.  They did so only when the T cell count got below a threshold level, so an individual could have  a very high viral load and not get the antiviral meds.  All of which is really just to say that the blanket statement about government giving the meds is a bit nuanced.  Also, treatment needs to be at the hospital where the individual is registered as a resident.  Many guys go to work in Bangkok but don't do all the paperwork necessary to qualify.

[Londoner]

My friend buys his medication monthly from his local hospital in the north. It is expensive but it has made a huge difference over the past five years; hitherto, the basic medication preserved life but not quality of life. The hiv clinic serves a large number of people; his impression of their physical condition (and, of course, it's only an impression) is that most of those are not benefiting from  medication is the way that he is. You can imagine how depressing it is for him to be in that waiting room....average wait two hours.

We must not be complacent about hiv in Thailand; yes, there is medication and top-quality products are available. But a poor person will inevitably struggle unless he/she has help. And that's before we consider the implications of prejudice and social isolation.

[halfhansum]

As an update, he tells me it is all free, and he went to Bangkok to get tested at somewhere called the `Thai Red Cross clinic.`

 Sent me a pic of the drugs he is taking, and googling it, he seems to be on a Retriviral  drug, and a Prep drug at the same time ..

 But i thought the Prep drugs were for prevention in the first place .. ?

[Guest Promsak]

As an update, he tells me it is all free, and he went to Bangkok to get tested at somewhere called the `Thai Red Cross clinic.`

 

The Red Cross has a website.

http://en.trcarc.org/?page_id=632

[anddy]

 But i thought the Prep drugs were for prevention in the first place .. ?

the prep drug (Truvada or it's generics) was and still is a treatment drug until it was discovered that it is also effective as a prevention drug. As a treatment drug, Truvada (which itself consists of 2 different drugs combined in one pill) always needs to be taken together with some other, single-agent pill, making it a 3-ingredient cocktail.