Monday, June 23, 2008

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Been a while

Hi people...

I usually lurk about gossip sites. I get my daily fix from that. Yesterday as I made my daily rounds...I stumbled upon MEDIATAKEOUT.

And this is what they had to say...please read the post and follow thru to the comments to see how ignorant people still are.

This will open your eyes.

Friday, January 18, 2008

The fight actually got tougher!!!

HIV sufferers should be banned
Friday, April 13, 2007

The Australian Prime Minister has called for a ban on HIV-positive people entering the country.

John Howard said his government was investigating whether it could tighten existing restrictions to stop sufferers migrating to Australia.

Asked in a radio interview whether people with the virus that causes AIDS should be allowed into Australia as migrants or refugees, Mr. Howard said: 'My initial reaction is no.'

He said there may be 'humanitarian considerations' in certain cases, and that he would like to take 'more counsel' on the issue.

'I think we should have the most stringent possible conditions in relation to that nationwide,' he added.

'I know the health minister is concerned about that and is examining ways of tightening things up.'

Mr. Howard was asked about the issue during a visit to Melbourne, where the state health minister said this week 70 of the 334 new HIV infection cases reported in Victoria in 2006 were among immigrants who had arrived in the country with the virus.

Don Baxter, of the non-government group the Australian Federation of AIDS Organizations, said HIV tests were among health checks prospective immigrants were given already.

Infection was already grounds for rejection on the grounds that an HIV-positive person could impose an unfair burden on the public health system, he added.
'It's very tight already," Mr Baxter said.

Many countries, including the United States, impose restrictions on immigration and visa approvals for people with HIV, though there are often exceptions in special cases.

*************************************
I'd heard about these restrictions before but after reading that news article, it hit me that HIV/AIDS sufferers are still going to be treated with scorn and the stigma isn't going to ever go away.

If they can be barred from entering a country just because they are HIV positive, then how is the western world going to claim to be fighting the disease when they give it an "arm's length" attitude. It's not like they will catch it thru a sneeze.

According to the article, the US only allows "special cases" into the country. I wonder what special cases these are seeing as it makes no difference when u're infected. And they can't be going for treatment because ARVs are now available almost everywhere. So maybe the special cases they talk about are the positive persons that are going to attend a cetrain conference on HIV prevention.

This is really absurd and pathetic.

-Cheri.

PS: Original articlae adapted from Metro News @ metro.co.uk. Additional writing below the stars by Cheri.

The fight just got tough

Adapted from Metro News. @metro.co.uk

One in five people in Britain is unaware that HIV is transmitted through unprotected sex.
Experts fear the number of people with HIV, which can lead to Aids, will increase dramatically as ignorance about the virus grows.

About 21 per cent of people did not know that unprotected sex spreads the virus, a survey showed, compared with just nine per cent eight years ago.
And 31 per cent of people were unaware that sharing a needle also spreads HIV, compared with 12 per cent in 2000.

Deborah Jack, chief executive of the National Aids Trust, said: 'In recent years we have witnessed knowledge and understanding about HIV decline at the same time that HIV diagnoses have reached an all-time high.

By 2010 there will be over 100,000 people living with HIV in the UK if current trends continue. We cannot afford to be complacent about HIV education.'
Only six per cent of people could correctly identify the four main ways HIV is spread: unprotected sex, blood transfusions, shared needles and via breast-feeding.
Ms Jack added: 'Ignorance about HIV increases vulnerability to infection and also contributes to stigma and discrimination.'

But the Public Attitudes Towards HIV survey did show that more than two-thirds of people claimed it would not affect their relationship if a relative or neighbor had HIV.

-Cheri