Steps that people can take to combat AIDS have taken root in the northern Thai province of Phayao, in line with a recently completed five-year project initiated by the Japan International Cooperation Agency.
Thailand experienced explosive growth in the number of people infected with HIV during the 1990s but has since transformed itself into an "advanced nation" in combating AIDS.
As of 2001, a cumulative total of 1.09 million Thais had contracted HIV, and 344,000 of them have died, according to a government estimate based on reports from hospitals and physical examinations for pregnant women and military recruits.