The article Human Rights in HIV, written by Lim Wey Win on January 9, 2011 is about the controversial side of HIV, the article can be found here http://thestar.com.my/health/story.asp?file=/2011/1/9/health/7655975&sec=health. This article shows how people are being discriminated due to their HIV status, even if they were promised confidentiality.
It has various quotes about people living with HIV who are discriminated due to it. Many people feel that their privacy is not being respected. This article has quotes from many people around the world but is focused in Malaysia.
Patients go into the doctor's office every day and are tested for HIV but for some people they choose to keep the results from that test a secret. They feel that if they share that they are HIV positive then they could lose their job and be looked down on in society.
One male living with HIV says "I was feeling very sick, so sick that they took me to the hospital. They found out I was HIV positive there. They told my brother before they told me. My family did not want me around the house any longer.”
A similar situation happened to a woman as well, “A woman went to (a) hospital for treatment and they found out she was HIV positive. The doctor respected her confidentiality, but one of the nurses lived in her neighbourhood and told on her. It became a horrible situation for the woman.”
This shows how people's privacy are not being respected and that HIV is looked down upon in society today. If you have this disease, many people do not want to be around you out of fear. Many HIV positive individuals are being denied treatment for other issues such as if they need surgery.
However, according to the president of the Malaysian Society of HIV Medicine, Dr. Christopher Lee says is it not because they have HIV but because it would be dangerous for them. “In this case, I’m not delaying the operation intentionally because I discriminate. I’m delaying it to make the patient better before we perform the operation.” Dr. Lee says that an HIV positive individual has a weaker immune system so they may react poorly to the treatment they are trying to receive.
I believe that society is to blame for this discrimination. People all over the world are afraid to tell even their own families if they are HIV positive because they don't want to be left on their own. It is also hard for an HIV positive individual because they have a weaker immune system so they cannot have all of the operations as a person without HIV can. I do not think that it is solely because they have HIV but because it is dangerous for their health. Who do you think is to blame? Should people who are HIV positive really be this upset? Why do you think people are being discriminated?
Lindsay, this a really interesting article and it came as quite a surprise to me. I can't believe that on top of all the medical suffering that these poor victims have to go through, they also face discrimination. This will really make me think next time I make any sort of judgement on anyone with any kind of sickness.
ReplyDeleteThis was a great article Lindsay because it talked about the infection disease of HIV and the social standards that go with it. I feel really bad that these victims that have to go through discrimination along with many other health struggles they will have to deal with in life due to their disease. People in general are programed to fear the unknown, so it is expected that people would be scared of an HIV infected person because they don’t know the risk of being near them so they stay away and discriminate. If people were educated, then they might not fear the disease because they would know the risk and precautions to take. Also, if people were educated about the spread of HIV then maybe they would be less likely to contract the disease. Everyone is a little at fault for these situations revolving around HIV, but if educated people could teach each other to stop the discrimination and eventually decrease the spread of HIV.
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