I talk about AIDS

How To Love by Lil Wayne, sung by Delilah on the TV show The Sing-Off. It's an a cappella (did you know that's how it's spelt) group competition. There are tons of awesome groups. Personally I prefer watching this to X Factor or whatever because a cappella is super tough! Not only the come up with creative harmonies, but to find voices that blend really well AND to be totally in sync. It's crazy. Anyway this performance was awesome I've been obssessed with it recently.

The original by Lil Wayne is really nice also. But the video was really sad, it was about this woman, who grew up in a less than ideal family, didn't have her father's love, influenced by the wrong things, got a job as a stripper and a prostitute, gets AIDS. And I was thinking, because I did research on ACT UP once, which is an organization that champions the cause of AIDS prevention and alleviating the stigma against them, that I realized actually, nobody really gives a shit about how serious AIDS is.

I think firstly because it's also associated largely to being a major problem in Africa, which it is (which immediately highlights a milion other problems like rape, medical care, etc), and seems so far away that people don't really think about it. But secondly is because Singaporeans don't realize that it's also a problem in our very own country. But it is a serious problem and the number of AIDS cases has been on the rise. Almost 90% of AIDS cases in Singapore occur through intercourse, 60% of which are  heterosexual incidences, so neither is AIDS a gay thing ok.

I actually don't wanna preach about safe sex and using condoms because that stuff is obvious, but I wanted to talk about stigma. Why? Because when I researched on ACT UP which is based in New York, a lot of the time they were petitioning and protesting for more research funds for finding a cure, better medical care for HIV patients, insurance funds and so on. People tend to deem HIV patients as less important because AIDS can't be cured, and also because AIDS can be 'transferred', so there's not much point in trying to help them.

If there is one thing I really hate about humanity sometimes is discrimination. Joking around, fine whatever. But if you actually practice discrimination in extremely real and tangible ways, there's really no excuse. Obama is not any better than a peasant in India. A healthy person is not any better than someone with AIDS. And for someone who has unwillingly contracted a terminal illness, the last thing he/she needs is to be treated like a contagious disease. So,

You will not get AIDS if you touch someone with AIDS, unless there is exchange of bodily fluids, such as blood, semen, vaginal fluids or pre-ejaculatory fluids. So you can hug someone with AIDS, or shake their hand, or share a meal (there's not enough virus in saliva to successfully transmit the disease).

Don't judge someone based on the fact that they have AIDS. Just because AIDS is known for being transmitted by intercourse doesn't mean someone with AIDS is a slut or a whore. There are other ways you can contract the disease, like through open wounds, blood transfusions and so on. And even if they were, by society's definition of "sluts" and "whores", getting AIDS is bad enough without being judged and discriminated against.

There are over 4000 people in Singapore living with AIDS, and who knows how many more who don't yet know that they have AIDS. With the act of casual sex on the rise in Singapore, especially among the younger people, the only responsible thing to do if you're having casual sex with people you don't really know is get yourself checked regularly. This is not about the moral ambiguity surrounding casual sex or whatever, it's about being responsible for your actions. By the way, it's against the law to sleep with someone and not inform them that you have AIDS, or believe that you might have AIDS. 


Lastly, did you know that a lot of medicinal supplies and resources needed for AIDS and some other terminal illnesses are not subsidised by the government? There is little availability of the anti-retrovirals needed to treat AIDS, so patients have to buy expensive branded originals. These drugs are also not eligible for government subsidy, so medical costs can run into the thousands and thousands. Government's argument is, of course, state-sponsored healthcare would increase the tax burden on the whole population. But for such an advanced state like ours it's honestly quite disappointing to see how little attention is being paid to the need for better subsidized healthcare, especially for those who fall through the cracks. Compromising on political freedom for the sake of growth is one thing, but to compromise on healthcare is really quite awful.

SO, what can you do?
1. Don't judge people with AIDS
2. Bring up this government issue whatever chance you get, like when MPs visit your house for show or there are those youth forums where Lee Hsien Loong randomly turns up. Or write in to the papers.
3. Tell other people not to discriminate people with AIDS
4. Donate: Action For Aids (AFA) is a NGO that provides clinical services, anonymous testing, public awareness campaigns and fundraisings to help test and treat patients, as well as to alleviate the stigma against HIV patients.


AIDS is a real problem. Just because you don't know anyone with AIDS doesn't mean they don't exist.