Hospitals in Thailand are to dispense antiretroviral therapy in three- to six-month doses in order to prevent people living with HIV from running out of medicines and to reduce their need to access the health system during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The new policy, endorsed by the National AIDS Commission, which is chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Health of Thailand, will be implemented throughout the country, reducing the risk of exposure of people living with HIV to COVID-19 and reducing the burden on the health system and clinical personnel.

People living with HIV who are on antiretroviral therapy under the National Health Security Office (NHSO)—which accounts for 70% of all people living with HIV receiving antiretroviral therapy in the country—are already benefiting from the implementation of this measure. Hospitals under NHSO are extending the length of prescription of antiretroviral therapy for people with a stable HIV condition—people living with HIV who have taken antiretroviral therapy continuously for at least one year, who have suppressed viral loads, who haven’t presented side-effects and who are not pregnant. Read more via UNAIDS