International AIDS
Memorial Day is commemorated worldwide today. Since 1983, it has been
coordinated by the Global Network of People Living with HIV and remains one of
the worlds oldest and largest grassroots mobilisation campaigns for HIV
awareness.
This year’s theme is Promoting Health and Dignity
Together.
What sets HIV/AIDS apart from other diseases is the
glaring fact that there are pockets of people who cannot look past what causes
it to be transmitted, especially when it concerns unprotected sex and dirty
needles.
This perception gives rise to the ugly spectre of
stigma and discrimination that further marginalises those in the high-risk
groups including drug users and sex workers. Sympathy is more forthcoming if it
involves women and children, who might attract remarks such as Oh, poor things,
it is not their fault.
In Malaysia, the battle against HIV/AIDS continues
with both government and non-governmental organisations striving to further
reduce the rate of infection.
According to Health Ministry statistics, the number
of new infections detected in 2011 was 3,479, which shows a decline compared
with the 3,652 cases recorded in 2010. The figures have been declining since
the peak of 6,978 in 2002.
The reduction in the rate of infection is
commendable and there will come a time when, as Malaysian AIDS Foundation (MAF)
chairman Prof Dr Adeeba Kamarulzaman says, there is a need to normalise
HIV/AIDS as it is treatable.
Putting aside how someone gets HIV/AIDS, it is no
different from any other disease. You can lead a normal life. But in Malaysia,
we are still entrenched in stigma and discrimination, she says.
To normalise the disease, she says it is important
to get several things done, such as getting more people tested, to the point
where there is nothing special about it.
The ever-energetic Dr Christopher Lee is quick to
emphasise that the younger generation has a better understanding of HIV/AIDS,
and this has led to a crop of healthcare professionals who have no aversion to
treating patients.
This attitude is making patients more comfortable
and secure when seeking treatment, leaving Dr Lee optimistic about the future.
The onus is on me to make you feel welcomed, says
the infectious diseases senior consultant and Hospital Sungai Buloh Medical
Department head. Once the staff accepts them, there is no longer any issue or
problem. It is the culture and philosophy of the department.
There is still the issue of some providers being
reluctant to treat people living with HIV/AIDS, he admits, but this number has
lessened.
The new generation is more enlightened. Maybe its
because they have lived longer with the (knowledge of the) disease. Besides,
they are taught about it in medical school. Those trained in infectious
diseases are different because they come in with the ingrained philosophy to
not judge.
Dr Lee, who was instrumental in setting up Ward 54
at the hospital for people with HIV, adds that there are also more doctors and
nurses who are opting to care for the patients.
I could hardly find anyone who wanted to work in
Ward 54 (when it was first set up). Now, we have nurses getting their
post-basic qualification in HIV counselling, he says. It is a significant step
forward.
Other steps towards the right direction include HIV
screening for pregnant women and access to free first-line antiretrovirals
medication from the Government, adds Dr Lee, who is also Kuala Lumpur AIDS
Support Service Society president.
Staying alive
While the outlook in reducing the rate of infection
is good, there are challenges faced by those who are currently running
programmes for people living with HIV.
For the Faith Helping Centre, raising funds to keep
it running continues to be an upward climb for Michael Chow.
It is not easy because the public tend to be more
giving to others like orphans or old folks, says Chow who is living with HIV.
Now into his 18th year of running the shelter, Chow
says it takes about RM15,000 to RM20,000 monthly to run. This includes rental
for two houses, wages for two caregivers and the utility bills. The shelter
currently has 16 residents.
The allocation he normally receives from the
Malaysian AIDS Council (MAC), which it obtains from the Health Ministry, has
been reduced this year, and he is now scrambling to find the cash to keep the
shelter running.
We are struggling but there are some people who
give what they can to help us because they know we are doing good work, he
says.
Residents who can afford to pay are charged RM400
monthly and he sometimes obtains funding from his church and friends.
Chow thinks nothing of using his own cash just to
keep the shelter afloat and has dipped into his own savings. Those who stay
with him and are employed also chip in with what they can spare.
You can’t just chase people out. If we close our
doors, where are they going to go' They will be homeless.
For someone who has been helping provide shelter
for women and children for about 15 years, Wan Hava Wan Hussin, who is fondly
known as Kak/Mak Wan, agrees that it is easier to obtain funds for children as
the public tend to be more sympathetic.
Upon retirement as Rumah Solehah supervisor, Kak
Wan founded a shelter for boys called Positive Shelter three years ago. She
relies on public and corporate donations besides obtaining cash from her EPF
savings to pay monthly expenses of up to RM9,000.
PT Foundation chairman Hisham Hussein says it is a
two-pronged approach when it comes to funding. There needs to be government
commitment and public support.
For some members of the public, if the cause is
sexy, then they will bring the money, he says. Some time ago, a donor bluntly
told me that HIV/AIDS was passe and it was now cancer.
The Health Ministrys financial assistance to NGOs
through the MAC has not been rolled over from previous years, resulting in
financial difficulties for the NGOs, he says.
The foundation, formerly known as Pink Triangle, is
a community-based organisation that provides information, education and care
services related to HIV/AIDS and sexuality. It works with the five communities
that are most affected by HIV/AIDS such as drug users, sex workers,
transgenders and men who have sex with men.
Hisham says the foundation, which is now into its
25th year of existence, has to come up with RM30,000 monthly for operational
costs.
It is a struggle because people tend to be
judgmental, he says, adding that the public do not mind giving to children or
women who were infected by their naughty husbands.
He says it is also difficult to obtain funding from
companies under their corporate social responsibility programmes due to the
communities that Pink Triangle represents.
In terms of fund-raising for the MAF, Dr Adeeba
says the Sapura and Kencana Petroleum Red Ribbon GP Ball 2012 raised about
RM1mil to benefit their various programmes and activities.
In an interview in conjunction with International
AIDS Memorial Day, Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai admits that
maintaining current levels of financial commitment, developing efficient and
transparent systems for allocation of financial resources and establishment of
a national monitoring and evaluation framework were challenging.
He adds that allocation for HIV/AIDS has been
increasing annually with RM61.6mil (S$30 million) in 2010, RM67.6mil (S$32
million) in 2011, and RM73.5mil (S$35 million) this year. Some RM59.59mil (S$28
million) had been disbursed to the Malaysian AIDS Council over a nine-year
period from 2003, he says.
The amount has exceeded what the Government
committed to in a memorandum of understanding signed nine years ago, for the
period of 10 years, which was RM40mil (S$20 million), Liow says.
The Star/Asia News Network
No comments:
Post a Comment