HIV/AIDS - Addressing the social stigma through awareness campaigns

I made a note to come to Merdeka Plaza today and have a look at #hivkuchingawarenessday campaign. It's high time that awareness campaigns like this be held more and more - and to add a value to it so that it achieve its intended purpose. For me, personally, this time, this campaign, is just like any other campaigns is well organised, well coordinated and well executed. I just wished our audience would be more of an active participator even if just cheering for the DJ and emcee, rather than passive onlookers. 

The Event

In the effort to raise awareness of HIV as well as other STD, #HIVKCHAWARENESSDAY is a community event supported by Sarawak AIDS Concern Society (SACS). According to the project manager of the society Rahmah Nicholls, discrimination against AIDS patient did not come from the government, but rather from the society as a whole. She further stated that "Due to the stigma placed on them, those reputed don’t go to the government hospital. This is a difficult area for surveillance" (BorneoPost Online, Feb 21, 2014)

The Sarawak AIDS Concern Society was initially set up in 1998. As a non-profit organisation, its main objective is to address AIDS related issues in Sarawak through the dissemination of information on the disease. It also aims to protect the rights of those living with AIDS as well as to support the families of those affected by AIDS.  

The Objective

1. To reject myths and misconceptions and fight HIV/AIDS related discrimination.
2. To raise awareness on sexually transmitted diseases and help young people to understand the dangers of the disease better
3. To change the “passive cultural’ through education on social environment. 

Perhaps to aid the first objective, I wish to enlighten those not in the know that HIV and AIDS are, in fact, two different conditions related to one another. HIV, or Human Immunodeficiency Virus, is a virus that infects a human through close contact with HIV infected body fluids - blood, semen and vaginal secretion are some of the examples of such body fluids. It does not, however, infect through saliva and sweat. Persons who has HIV are referred to HIV positive, and without is referred to as HIV negative. According to statistics, 169 cases of HIV positive cases has been reported in Sarawak in 2011. The number decreases to 147 cases in the following year, while in 2013, just last year, the number jumps to 190 reported cases. Do remember that these are reported cases. In many instances, persons who are HIV positive shows no particular symptom and live a healthy life until diagnosed.

AIDS, on the other hand, is a classification of the persons who are HIV positive with their CD4 count falling below 200. CD4 is a type of protein that is found on the surface of immune cells - the lower the count, the lower the body's resistance to infection and diseases, and the slower the body recovers from them. AIDS patients can also be classified when they acquire HIV-related infection such as tuberculosis (TB) as well as other various infections (honestly, the scientific names just escapes me).

In short, while the terms HIV/AIDS are commonly used together, a person may be HIV positive but never developed AIDS even towards the end of his life, but if a person is classified as an AIDS patient, his is therefore HIV positive. 

The Social Stigma

It has always been a society ruling that persons living with HIV/AIDS are sinners by default. Such prejudice against them is so thick in the society that we live in that it's almost tangible. Added with the singular knowledge that this is a "gay's disease", the persons living with the condition is condemned for the rest of his life, and even after his passing. 

This is not completely true, though. In fact, it is completely false. Numbers of new HIV/AIDS cases involving heterosexual sex is increasing in the United States. Closer to home, in Sarawak, state Health Director Datu Dr Zulkifli Jantan told The Borneo Post that most of the reported cases are male and transmission was from a heterosexual relationship. Such stigma and prejudice is unjust and barbaric, and should be purged from the society. 

Community Awareness and Support

Events such as these: #hivkchawarenessday, small as it may be, is a great start and provides continuity in the support of persons living with HIV/AIDS and those affected by it. It might be a small move, but I've always been a believer in the saying Rome wasn't built in a day. It makes me sad to admit that I am one of those few affected by HIV/AIDS, having made privy to the secret that the community believes should be kept between four walls and closed doors.

It was also the missing element in the campaign that was organised by SACS. No, I am not asking for those living with the condition and those affected by it to come forth and announce to the world - though I am not against that as well if it's to raise awareness. The campaign only showcased one side of the story - prevention. It is better than cure, but to those already living with it and to those affected by it, their input and contribution is just as valuable.

We all have a story to tell, and theirs are extraordinary. Once made privy, instead of pity or sorry, you suddenly gain a higher sense of understanding and a totally different perspective of life. The value that visitors take home with them even after just being a passive bystander is what I would like to see.

How? is the question to ask. In this era where communication is supported by technology, I am quite surprised to find that the event did not have it's own Facebook page. But that's on the promotion side. I believe Plaza Merdeka has very good and diverse traffic. Like I said earlier, the value that the community can take home is much more worthwhile in achieving the objective of the awareness campaign.

I look forward to an awareness campaign whereby visitors can engage with the persons living with HIV/AIDS and the persons affected by it through multimedia interaction should there be a need to protect the identities. Audio and visual recordings, two way interaction through multimedia applications, or even a creative representation of the daily life of persons living with HIV/AIDS can effectively show how their lives are no different than ours. That way, perhaps we can address the social stigma that was imposed to them, and remove the stone hard prejudice against them once and for all. 

Here are some of the photos I managed to snap during the event.