Thailand to Continue Efforts to Work With International Community Towards World Free of HIV/AIDS: Envoy

At a General Assembly plenary meeting on Monday, Jakkrit Srivali, Thailand's deputy permanent representative to the UN, said his country would "work shoulder to shoulder with partner countries and organizations, until we all arrive at our common destination, a world free of HIV/AIDS." His remarks came during the meeting on the Implementation of the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS and the Political Declarations on HIV/AIDS.

The Declaration of Commitment, passed in 2001, set out goals for world action in combating the disease. In June 2011, the UN General Assembly endorsed a political declaration that included new targets and commitments for the global fight against HIV/AIDS.

Srivali said his country has made "substantial progress" in its national response to the disease, in preventing both mother-to-child transmission and HIV infection in the general population. "But we must also look ahead to anticipate new challenges," he added.

In the future, "We will do more to address the legal, social, and environmental factors that hinder access to prevention and care services," Srivali noted. "We will maintain a rights-based and gender-sensitive approach, which is integral to providing high-quality prevention services to all key populations."

According to Srivali, cooperating regionally within ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) also is important. "In this regard, we have been working to improve coordination and cooperation beyond our borders and hope to continue providing critical HIV prevention, treatment, and care for migrant workers, with support from the Global Fund, to which Thailand also contributes," he said.

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