Bangkok Post - July 31, 2007

Twenty years after the outbreak of Aids in humans panicked the world, and 10 years after experts confidently predicted a vaccine, science has produced neither an immunization nor a cure. There have been important advances, based on medical knowledge. Many people who contract the Aids-causing HIV, today have a good chance of being able to co-exist with the disease and live a somewhat normal lifespan.

The poor still face huge barriers before they can obtain life giving medical care. But the biggest problem has become the ignorance and the discrimination of those without Aids against those with the disease.

A group supported by the United Nations has launched a serious, pan-Asian effort to fight this problem. The Independent Commission on Aids in Asia and the Pacific might have come up with a catchier name. Nevertheless, the group has kicked off a programme to educate the public and boost the chances of HIV/Aids victims. It will be funded by UNAids, but the commission is independent and can apply local tactics to counter bias in communities across our continent.

This is an effort that is long overdue. Ever since the outbreak of Aids in the mid-1980s, victims have had to withstand rampant discrimination. In many ways, Aids has become the new-age leprosy, where those with the disease are locked away from society. This is not only a figure of speech. Around the world and right here at home in Thailand, seemingly intelligent people refuse to approach Aids victims, force them to move from their neighbourhoods, and even discriminate against their families and children - who frequently are barred from schools.

But while the discrimination is both shameful and scandalous, there must be a huge question of whether yet another committee is the way to approach the problem. The stigma placed on HIV/Aids victims and their families seldom originates from government at all. The problems described by those who are diagnosed as HIV-positive now have a familiar ring. Employers invent ways to fire them. Neighbours pressure schools to ban the children. More than 12 years after legislation barred Thai businesses and civil servants from separating HIV/Aids patients, the discrimination continues at a local level. Ignorance is undoubtedly the major factor behind the shocking treatment of those known to have tested positive for HIV/Aids. Many people still have the idea that the virus can spread through the air, or simply by a touch.

Chakravarthi Rangarajan, the Indian who chairs the Independent Commission, has encouraged a series of meetings with government officials and representatives of civil society in the Philippines, Bangladesh, China and so on. The chief accomplishment after almost a year is the conclusion that governments lack what the Commission calls "an urgency of response." This is hardly newsworthy; it is something any reasonably aware person could have easily reported even before the meetings.

What is needed, and what will earn the commission quick recognition and public support, is action. Example: The Population and Community Development Association has been providing micro-loans to Thais diagnosed with HIV/Aids to setup small businesses; it could use support and funds. Example: Bangkok businesses including tourist facilities openly discriminate against HIV/Aids victims; their owners and managers badly need serious education about a problem they obviously misunderstand.

The drive to end discrimination against HIV/Aids sufferers must also go hand in hand with medical treatment. The campaign by Public Health Minister Mongkol Na Songkhla to reduce the price of high-technology medicine that allows HIV/Aids patients to live a reasonably normal life is because the drugs are needed for life. Such drugs must be affordable. There must also be a renewed campaign and law enforcement to educate the public about HIV/Aids. The shameful discrimination should stop. This should be the aim of the Commission.

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Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 2007. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.

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