Business as usual for prostitutes

July 23, 2004

It was business as usual for prostitutes in Bangkok, Thailand , even in the midst of the recent 15th International Aids Conference, where the main messages w ere abstinence, faithfulness and safe sex.

Dr Amery Browne, and several members of the Trinidad delegation attending the conference in Thailand related yesterday how amusing and ironic it was to see a "prostitute bar" erected on the very floor of the conference which brought together more than 19,000 participants from around the world.

"Condoms were distributed all over in Thailand and prostitution is seen there as a booming tourist attraction. No one seemed to be embarrassed, and some asked for more condoms ...but a bar for prostitutes at the peak of an Aids Conference was ridiculous", one member noted.

Professor Courtenay Bartholomew, head of the Medical Research Foundation (MRF) in Port of Span, who has long insisted that a change in human sexual behaviour would result in a drastic drop in HIV infection, also commented negatively on the "prostitute bar".

Thailand, however, has recorded a drop in Aids mortality, which experts believe is as a result of the widespread use of the male latex condom, termed as the single most efficient available technology to reduce the sexual transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections .

Dozens of movie stars, and celebrities were on spot and Angela Lee Loy, chairperson of the National Aids Coordinating Committee in Port of Spain, recalled meeting one of her favourites - Richard Gere at one of the sessions.

There was a lot of emphasis on condom use as the chief weapon to prevent the spread of the disease.

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