タイのエイズ問題における「家族」と「地域」の役割

抄録

　　　In this paper, I aim to consider how AIDS problem affects on the community and on the family institution in Thai society, which has to put the task of ‘living with AIDS patients in the same community’ into practice, especially in the case of Northern Thai rural area where the AIDS problem is most serious in Thailand.
　　　The number of AIDS/HIV patients in Thailand are recently estimated 800,000 persons, and it becomes one of the most important social problems that must cope with emergency.
　　　The increasing patients exceed the accommodation or treatment ability of each medical institutions and hospitals, and Thai government has begun to strengthen the policy that entrusts each community and the families of the patients with nursing of these patients in near future.
　　　The majority of patients are, however, young people who work as farmers, or as unskilled/half-skilled laborers in urban and/or rural area. That is to say, their families have to face the economic difficulties to carry the burden of nursing of patients in the prejudice of the neighborhood, as well as they lost their children who were major income earning members. Furthermore, in these years, the problem of infection of housewives and children becomes serious, too . A part of Thai people consider the situation as the crisis of Thai family institution. Thai print media begins to appeal to public opinion about the importance of the Thai family institution.
　　　The prejudice of the neighborhood against HIV/AIDS people and their families is also a serious barrier for the government/NGO program. It seems that to reorganize ‘the community’ , which begins to dissolve, as the industrialization grows, is indispensable for the success of the AIDS program . Some people who are experts on the AIDS problem in Thailand insists that decentralization of the administrative power must be also proceeded for the solution of the problem.