Prevention of HIV transmission from mother-to-child in Srinagarind Hospital.

From January 1996 to December 1999, HIV infected pregnant women and their newborns were studied. Informed consent was obtained and HIV-tests were performed after counselling. ZDV for perinatal prophylaxis starting on week 14 to week 36 of gestation and continued throughout pregnancy was given following an ACTG 076 regimen except that during labour, intravenous ZDV was replaced by oral ZDV 300 mgs, given every 3-hours as a loading dose and ZDV syrup 2 mgs/kg every 6 hours for 7 days orally for the newborns. Newborn HIV-Ab and PCR were done at 6 weeks and 6 months after birth. Eighty-four HIV infected pregnant women were enrolled in the study, eighty-three of whom were delivered. The overall transmission rate was 5.2 per cent, with 3/58 children confirmed infected with HIV by at least two positive PCR test results.

Consumer preference study of the female condom in a sexually active population at risk of contracting AIDS.

To determine the acceptability of the female condom among commercial sex workers in Khon Kaen, Thailand. Twenty sex workers from a massage parlor and 21 from a brothel were trained in the use of the female condom. The voluntary participants were instructed about the risk of HIV and advised that they could use the female condom as an alternative method to the male condom for protection. The female condom was used in 28.4 per cent and 17.8 per cent episodes of sex in each site during the two weeks. Continuation of use of the female condom increased from 0 per cent in the first group to 43 per cent in the second group. The reasons for discontinuing its use were that it was inconvenient and because of their partners' objection. More users said they liked the female condom even though more thought it was difficult to insert and it did cause pain. However, they would recommend it to others and most felt that other women would want to try it. The participants also saw the advantage of the female condom as a back-up method in case of clients' refusal to use the male condom but all prefered the male condom if there was a choice.

AIDS education and intervention trials among youths in factories: a pilot project.

The project aimed to conduct a pilot study and intervention trials among youths in a factory of Khon Kaen. After contacting and obtaining agreement from owners/managers of factories, a survey using a self administered questionnaire, in-depth interview and focus group with workers to determine their level of knowledge and awareness of AIDS and high risk behaviour. A series of in-depth interviews with 16 workers and group discussion with 8 groups were conducted to find out their possible motivation for prevention and their acceptance of interventions/media. The data was used as a baseline for evaluating change after interventions and to modify the intervention education strategies and content. The study showed that the groups of factory workers which were not involved in the AIDS prevention had a different level of knowledge, attitudes, and behavior related to AIDS prevention than the groups which received the intervention and the methods used in the intervention achieved a level of success. The information we collected also showed that the best kinds of media for this purpose were videos and informational cartoons, which were also of special interest to the study group. It is hoped that the models will be adopted by relevant government and non-government agencies to be used in factories throughout the country.