Honoring Thailand's Exuberant AIDS Czar

On Thursday, Mechai Viravaidya accepted the $1 million Gates Award for Global Health on behalf of his group, Thailand's Population and Community Development Association. PCDA is devoted to increasing public education about HIV and promoting condoms across Thailand. According to the Global Health Council, Mechai's HIV prevention programs have achieved astounding results. Between 1990 and 2003, HIV infections in the country decreased by 85 percent, protecting around 7.7 million Thais from infection. Some of PCDA's more imaginative condom promotion techniques have included providing gas station attendants and traffic cops with condoms to pass along to motorists. "Safety on the streets and in the back seat" is motto of Mechai, who is popularly known as the "Condom King."

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