National Institute of Health is spending $178K to study Thai prostitutes' drug abuse and HIV risk

daily news staff

Thursday, May 21st 2009, 12:34 PM

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Thailand, Prostitute sitting in bar

The federal government plans to spend $178K to study drug-abusing Thai prostitutes, Fox News reports.

Why would they want to do this?

The National Institute of Health is hoping to learn why drug-abusing prostitutes in Thailand have such a high HIV risk as compared to others with similar lifestyles. The NIH will study the personal and cultural pressures that influence these sex workers and put them at higher risk.

Researchers will interview 60 Thai sex workers, including kathoey, who are transgender prostitutes.

This NIH research, titled "Substance Use and HIV Risk amoung Thai Women," has many up in arms, as it uses taxpayer dollars.

"This really is a complete waste of money and should not be funded by the taxpayer," David Williams, vice president for policy at Citizens Against Government Waste, told Fox News.

The NIH did not respond to Fox News for comment.



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