World AIDS Day falls on December 1

Scarred and stigmatized

The silent killer :

By Rosanne KOELMEYER ANDERSON

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‘Life is like a game of cards. The hand that is dealt you represents determinism; the way you play it is free will. Each day is a new canvas to paint upon but make sure your picture is full of life and happiness, and at the end of the day you don’t look at it and wish you had painted something different’.

Reminiscent of many poignant stories of victims of circumstances around the world; we are reminded of the significance of World AIDS Day which falls on December 1. Grappling with reality and the futility of life with scarcely a chance of turning back the pages of time; the silent killer HIV/AIDS has literally claimed 33 million lives, global statistics reveal up to December 2007.

Since the discovery of this horrendous disease in 1981 when the first AIDS patient was reported in the United States of America, much light has been shed on the importance of having protected sex and single partner relationships, as predominantly more than 90 per cent of HIV virus transmissions have been reported to be through sexual transmissions. Who says we are safe and the figures of reported HIV/AIDS cases are inconsequential? Alarmingly, the reality is that statistics reveal that more than 90 per cent of people living with HIV/AIDS are in the developing countries:Women comprise 50 per cent of adults while 2.5 million amount for children under fifteen years of age.

What has been the scenario in Sri Lanka since the first Sri Lankan was reported with HIV/AIDS in 1987? Today, not far away from the heart of Colombo are some of these patients, girls and mothers, boyfriends and husbands who halplessly lie at the Wards of our very own Infectious Disease Hospital (IDH) at Rajagiriya.

Staring into space waiting for their call while some of them discreetly rush to queue up there for treatment, some times unknown to their families dejected and alone the day and nights seem so long they say battling with probably the last lap of life’s race.

Dr. Kamalika Abeyratne who contracted AIDS through blood transfusion was one of the many individuals who faced much harassment by society at large and moved on steadily to campaign for the cause until her death.

Meanwhile, addressing the issue at a conference to mark World AIDS Day on Wednesday at the Galle Face Hotel, Colombo was Sherman de Rose, Director of ‘Companions on a Journey Sri Lanka’ who expressed that the facts and figures of HIV/AIDS patients in Sri Lanka’s could be misleading as a country wide surveillance had not been done in a long time.

The facts and figures available are only of cases reported at the National clinics. There are many people who do these test, at private clinics too which are not included in the data. Classifying us as a country with a low prevalence may not be very accurate. There is a significant rise in HIV/AIDS reported case over the past few years. The problem needs to be addressed firstly.’

The Ministry of Health and the NGO’s around the country are doing a lot of hard work no doubt and many awareness programmes on HIV/AIDS are being conducted but due to the social stigma and segregation of such persons beginning with the family unit itself, schools and work places, so people are reluctant to get themselves checked. Some of them prefer not to come to terms with reality. There are people who some times come for testing and do not return the next day to collect the results out of sheer fear.

However, the clinic is open every Poya day for testing at No 21B, Suboddharama Lane, Nugegoda. For inquiries you may call 2768036 or 4851535 ‘ he explained. ‘National strategies should be strengthened to ensure healthy lifestyles. The prisons is one such place where the killer disease is rampant. It is a very high risk group and so are housewives most often who are unaware of their husband’s extra marital affairs and migrant workers.

The need of the hour is to address such issues promptly and have a policy on HIV/AIDS.’

Meanwhile, according to statistics from the National STD/AIDS Control Programme of the Department of Health Services the reported number of HIV/AIDS positive persons was reported to be 1029 as at end September 2008 while the estimated number of people living with HIV/AIDS in Sri Lanka amounted to 4000 in 2007. The cumulative number of HIV/AIDS patients reported were 281 and the cumulative HIV/AIDS deaths reported were 182. These figures showed an increase in the number of reported cases over the previous years.

Meanwhile, awareness programmes will be conducted throughout the country to mark World AIDS Day while the red ribbon will be worn by people around the world to show care and concern for those who are living with HIV, those who are ill, those who have died, and for those who care for and support those directly affected by HIV/ AIDS.