World AIDS Day was marked Friday, Dec. 1, under conditions starkly different from when it was first observed 30 years ago.
Then, not much was known about AIDS and a diagnosis was equated to a death sentence. A person found to have the disease could not expect to live very long. Worse, whatever remained of this life would be wretched. The body withered away, helpless against countless attacks from enemies from which it could not defend itself.
These days, advances in medicine and technology have given rise to a new category of patients: People Living With HIV—the virus, not the disease. And indeed, a person diagnosed with the virus can, with consistent medication, expect to live as though he or she did not have it.
Around the world, trends vary. Many societies have successfully lowered the number of new cases over the years through a successful information and education campaign. People have been given guidance on pursuing their lifestyle of choice while protecting themselves from the risks that came with them. Those aware that their conditions or behavior may have put them in danger of contracting the virus are encouraged to get themselves tested.
With knowledge and acceptance came the responsibility to act accordingly, responsibly, and without judgment.
This is not true for other countries. In the Philippines, for instance, the numbers have remained high, not only in the capital but in key cities and provinces. Authorities have long been stumped on how to arrest this trend.
Unfortunately, while technology has occasioned significant changes in patients, the stigma remains.
Just this week we were reminded of how many Filipinos continue to regard those living with the virus. The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, in the course of arresting 11 suspects in a buy-bust operation at a hotel in Taguig City, revealed that one of those arrested was HIV-positive.
The agency did apologize for its blunder, saying it was driven to do so out of its zeal to warn the populace on the effects of so-called passion parties and how some behaviors contribute to the high prevalence of HIV.
There was no intention to be insensitive or discriminatory, the PDEA said.
Still, what this exposes is the implicit moral judgment—something shared, consciously or not, by many others. This is likely why not all who practice at-risk behaviors do not protect themselves or others, or get themselves tested. They would not want to be stigmatized when they reveal themselves, only to be branded as different—deviant, even.
And so the cycle continues.