Phuket teens targeted in HIV awareness drive
PHUKET: The growing number of young adults testing positive for HIV/Aids in the province has prompted the launch of an awareness drive aimed at teenagers and those in their early 20s.
At Phuket Provincial Hall, former Senator for Khon Kaen and women’s rights activist Rabiabrat Pongpanich, who is currently President of the Society for Promoting Happy Families, chaired a meeting of the heads of the three Chalermprakiet Centers in Phuket.
Based at major government hospitals throughout the country, the centers provide support for HIV/Aids patients.
During the meeting, private organizations pledged 420,000 baht to the centers to help launch the campaign.
K. Rabiabrat said, “I worry more about teenagers contracting HIV than adults, because teenagers are less likely to practice safe sex…
“Teenagers often want to engage in premarital sex and they tend to trust their partners more than they do their parents.
“For this reason, parents need to talk to their children more about relationships and teach them about life, because teenagers are easily influenced – especially the girls.
“Most teenagers have unprotected sex and do not know enough about sexual relationships. They do not know the true meaning of love and often lack the ability to differentiate between love and sex. They should love themselves, their parents, their self-respect and their families first,” she explained.
