Her Royal Highness Princess Soamsawali Krom Muen Suddhanarinatha has been appointed as the UNAids Goodwill Ambassador for HIV Prevention in Asia and the Pacific, according to a press statement released by the United Nations body on Saturday.
At the appointment ceremony, which was held at Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital on Saturday, HRH Princess Soamsawali was accompanied by HRH Princess Bajrakitiyabha Narendiradebyavati.
“I would like to recognise all HRH Princess Soamsawali Krom Muen Suddhanarinatha has done and continues to do to provide HIV prevention services to the most vulnerable populations,” said UNAids Deputy Executive Director of Programme and Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations Shannon Hader.
For almost three decades, HRH Princess Soamsawali has been on the forefront of Thailand's HIV response. The princess have been tireless in her efforts to promote clinical studies to prevent mother-to-child transmission as well as new HIV testing methods, and for her role in supporting the introduction of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in Thailand.
Since 2016, HRH Princess Soamsawali, through the Princess' Fund, has supported the Princess PrEP programme — the first community-based PrEP distribution model in Thailand — which proved to be successful that it was included in the national healthcare system.
In addition to the PrEP roll-out programme, HRH Princess Soamsawali also supports a variety of projects to improve Thailand's HIV response — which ranges from the provision of medications to curb mother-to-child HIV transmission, increasing access to anti-retrovirals (ARV), establishing breast-milk banks, and personally visiting people living with HIV along with the Thai Ree Cross.
As part of her role as UNAids Goodwill Ambassador, HRH Princess Soamsawali pledged to expand the Princess' PrEP Programme both in Thailand, as well as the rest of Asia and the Pacific.
The princess will also continue to work towards ensuring that Thailand meets the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) by using Thailand's successes as an example for the region.