Men's clinic fills sexual-health niche Published on July 18, 2005 Different sexual orientations have disparate problems when it comes to sexually related diseases and sexual health. And while there are many medical clinics geared towards heterosexuals, none has specialised in the broader social group known as "men who have sex with men".
But that changed when a clinic focusing on homosexuals, bisexuals and straight male prostitutes whose customers are gay opened last year. Initially, the Clinic Chai Rak Chai (Men Love Men Clinic) at Bang Rak Hospital was established to extend medical services to underprivileged male prostitutes working in nearby areas, particularly Phat Phong on Silom Road, the most popular red-light district in town. But through word of mouth and cooperation among gay activist groups, the clinic which now operates as Men's Health Clinic has blossomed into a haven for gay men seeking medical services and counselling with compassion. The clinic is now a small community centre for homosexuals, a place to socialise and plan outreach activities such as campaigns to promote condom use and peer-to-peer gay sex education for the younger generation. A couple of years back, the Disease Control Department (DCD) and a collaborative team of the US Centres for Disease Control and Thai health authorities conducted a survey of male prostitutes and gay men at a number of cruising parks in Bangkok. They found an alarming 17 per cent HIV/Aids infection rate. The findings were the same as those found in similar places in the United States, Spain and even India. With the survey results in hand, the DCD decided to develop the clinic for male sex workers to ensure them access to proper healthcare, said Dr Sombat Thaenprasertsuk, the director of the department's HIV/Aids division. The Clinic Chai Rak Chai, open Monday through Friday, can accommodate only about 20 patients per day. Unlike other clinics, the doctor allows more time for each customer to question them about their sexual behaviours, diagnosing, and individual counselling on safe sex, said Dr Ungkhana Charoenwatanachokechai, the clinic's director. Apart from checking for and treating sexually transmitted diseases, the clinic treat its patients for any kind of diseases, particularly sex workers, who are treated gratis. The patients are different, yet so are the doctors. Not only are they specially trained for the job, the doctors must have sympathy for these people in many ways including they way they have sex, said the doctor. "Medically having no clue about how these people have sex, non- specialist doctors tend to miss the nuances or even the point of diagnosis," Sombat said. To give a clear picture of how different these men are from their heterosexual counterparts, Sombat said the most common diseases among the clinic's patients are gonorrhoea in the throat or anus. And to detect the disease, doctors are required to get a swab sample from the patient's throat or anus rather than his penis, which male patients are subjected to. One concrete success of the Chai Rak Chai clinic, he said, was that the average HIV/Aids rate found among customers had decreased to about 14 per cent from about 17 per cent previously. Given the success of the clinic, the DCD is planning to open similar offices in other large cities around the country including Chiang Mai, Hat Yai, Phuket, and Pattaya. Also, the Bangkok clinic will expand its hours and days of operation. Moreover, a private hospital is considering opening a similar clinic in Bangkok for upper-class gay customers, the ones that can afford to pay. Arthit Khwankhom The Nation Group Site: http://www.gaybombay.info ========================== This message was posted to the gay_bombay Yahoo! Group. Responses to messages (by clicking "Reply") will also be posted on the eGroup and sent to all members. If you'd like to respond privately to the author of any message then please compose and send a new email message to the author's email address. Post:- gay_bombay@yahoogroups.com Subscribe:- [EMAIL PROTECTED] Digest Mode:- [EMAIL PROTECTED] No Mail Mode:- [EMAIL PROTECTED] Individual Mail Mode:- [EMAIL PROTECTED] Contact Us:- [EMAIL PROTECTED] Archives are at http://www.mail-archive.com/gay_bombay%40yahoogroups.com/maillist.html Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gay_bombay/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
