Let's talk about HIV/Aids!

The topic of HIV/Aids is one close to my heart. The deadly virus was a research project in biology class in 8th grade. Theory got filled with life (or death) visiting an HIV/Aids orphanage in South Africa many years later. During my year in Cambodia the topic was always present, at least among the international aid community trying to fight the rampant spread of the virus in a country sadly well known for sex tourism. Here in the Philippines, for the first time, HIV/Aids got a more personal dimension. A friend of mine was diagnosed with the virus two years ago. Since then his condition is deteriorating rapidly.

To talk about HIV/Aids in the Philippines, a Catholic country where city ordinances deem condoms illegal, surely invites an interesting discussion! I'm glad my friend Zarah took the courage to dedicate one of the Starbucks Dialogues to this emotional, inconvenient, and philosophically charged topic.

At a Starbucks in Cebu, a good crowd of 50 people gathered after work to dwell about the issue over a cup of coffee.

The discussion started with a member of CebuPlus, a support group working with HIV positive people. He outed himself as carrying the virus and shared his experiences of the stigma surrounding HIV+ people in society.

Next was Niccolo Cosme, a gay photographer who had seen too many of his friends die. He started the Red Whistle Project, drumming up awareness for HIV/Aids with the catchy slogan “Blow me!”.

After some beating around the bush being diplomatically vague of what exactly 'risky behavior' is in the context of contracting HIV, the conversation opened up and shifted the focus from 'Injecting Drug Users' (IDUs) too a broader audience: basically everybody whose sexually active.

There are various dimensions about HIV/Aids. There is the de-stigmatizing and re-socializing of HIV positive people. There is care taking of positive family members. There is treatment of HIV-related diseases and anti-retroviral therapy. There is basic information about the virus and its transmission. And, there is active prevention.

The latter, according to the department of Health (DoH) representative, whom I challenged on the promotion of condom use in the Philippines, is achieved by abstinence and choosing the right time for first sexual intercourse.

Renaud Myer, country director of UNDP Philippines, which is “Promoting Leadership and Mitigating the Negative Impacts of HIV and AIDS on Human Development", put my thoughts into words when he said: "Abstinence? Are you kidding me? Promoting abstinence in a country that has the highest population growth in Asia obviously does not work!"

The most simple, accessible, and affordable form of preventing the spread of HIV/Aids--the condom--is condemned as sinful in the Philippines. The church, promoting 'Yes to Life', let's people walk blindly into the dangers of sexually transmitted diseases by curtailing information and condemning the easiest form of protection (which is available in every gas station and 7Eleven!). How 'Yes to Life' is that?

It struck me how little seemed to be known about HIV among the audience. One girl was wondering what the hype is all about... It turned out she didn't know there is no cure for HIV/Aids. Can you blame a girl in her early 20s, most likely sexually active, for not knowing such basics if the Philippine school curriculum has HIV/aids on the agenda yet it is not taught in class because the teachers are ashamed or worse, afraid because the school is on Parish grounds? Hardly.

Instead of weeding out the roots of the problem, we chose to do crisis management once the damage is done: re-integrating positive people in society and trying to keep them alive with expensive medicines most of them can't afford. Basic information about the virus and a simple rubber devise could have spared them from all this.

I'm not advocating many things. But I am an advocate for HIV/Aids education and promotion of condom use! We have all the knowledge and technology to protect ourselves from contracting the virus. Different from cancer for example, medical science has deciphered the HI-virus. It’s understood and there are options to protect you. Nobody should fall prey to HIV/Aids anymore in the 21st century! I consider any attempt to knowingly curtailing information and access to protection criminal, a censorship, which violates individual's right to make an educated choice over life or death.