Her Royal Highness Princess Soamsawali Krom Muen Suddhanarinatha of Thailand has been at the forefront of Thailand’s response to HIV for almost 30 years.
She has been heavily involved in efforts to promote clinical studies to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV, to encourage new HIV testing methods and to support the introduction of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in Thailand.
Since 2016, Princess Soamsawali has supported the Princess Prep programme — the first community-based PrEP distribution model which has been used as a model to scale up PrEP services within the national healthcare system.
Princess Soamsawali also supports a range of other projects to bolster Thailand’s HIV response, including the establishment of breast milk banks and the expansion of access to treatment. She also regularly visits areas that are worst affected by the epidemic.
Her Royal Highness will also help amplify the leadership role Thailand is playing towards ending AIDS within the SDG agenda, by showcasing and promoting Thailand’s achievements and encouraging other countries in the region to follow its example.