Hi Dr. Young,

Not a question from me, but a comment to the reader who wrote from Thailand:

There are indeed some very good docs in Thailand. I happen to know one in Bangkok, Dr. Nick Walters of Mission Hospital (also called Bangkok Adventist Hospital). He provides care for my fiancee (a Thai resident), and he is absolutely excellent. I can't say enough nice things about this man.

I also want to tell your reader that the meds are good in Thailand, probably almost comparable with the U.S., if not exactly comparable. There is a governmental administration called the GPO, or Government Pharmaceutical Office. The supervise the manufactur of the local generic equivalent of several of the more common meds. The only problem is that they tend to favor d4T, which has resulted in disproportionately high reported rates of lipoatrophy among Thai patients. However, newer meds are making their way into the marketplace, including Kaletra and a combination you that can be assembled using the locally-available components of Tenofovir, 3TC, and Stocrin (efavirenz). This is what my fiancee takes, with good results (and decent price).

If your reader is in BKK, I encorage him or her to go see Dr. Nick. He's absolutely great, and the prices at Mission Hospital for doctors' services are unbelievably low.

Thanks for reading this.

Thanks for your report from Bangkok.

It's great to hear reports from patients and their families about their experiences; this is of incredible value to our readers.

BY