Inter Press Service - October 11, 1999
R Mageswary

She has the HIV virus, which causes AIDS, and her husband packed his bags and left their home when he found out. Ironically, Janaki is convinced that he had passed on the virus to her. "I knew of his philandering ways but decided to ignore it for the sake of my kids," she says.

Lowly educated, Janaki does odd jobs in peoples' homes but her small income is not enough to support the family. "I cannot even provide my children with decent food," she explains. Her children also do not go to school.

Her current situation is daunting enough, but what really worries Janaki is the fear that she might lose her income if her employers find out that she is HIV positive.

People like Janaki are now the target of a new programme that aims to extend small loans and economic assistance to people with HIV/AIDS, whose economic security are put at risk by having the virus of full-blown AIDS.

Under this programme, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) here are working together with Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia, a microfinance institute that works on the same principle as the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh.

Angeline Ackermans, programme manager for UNDP and UNAIDS here, says the programme seeks to extend a helping hand in what is often a "common problem". Amanah Ikhtiar was set up in 1984 to provide loans for the poor as part of the Malaysian government's poverty eradication programme, and has since helped 55,000 households in the country. Malaysia has around 100,000 registered poor households.

Experts agree that this is a remarkable achievement as microfinance institutions do not even reach out to 2.0 percent of the total poor homes -- and this record is what augurs well for the ongoing attempt to target people living with HIV/AIDS who are economically sidelined because of their illness.

"We would like to ensure that the HIV/AIDS sufferers are also able to procure these loans as there is a lot of discrimination against them," Ackermans says in an interview. "For example, banks will not help them, being ignorant of the fact that they could live for another ten years."

The new joint venture would work on giving out loans to people with HIV/AIDS as a form of community support. "We believe this scheme would get them to be productive and alleviate their extreme level of poverty. It will also get them to work together," explains Ackermans.

Research conducted for UNDP's on the economic implications of HIV in the Philippines, India and Thailand have revealed that coping with HIV/AIDS cripples household income-earning capacity.

Similarly, such research indicated that the difficulties that parents with HIV/AIDS face can hurt the long-term economic prospects of their children as well, and permanently when they suffer from poverty-induced malnutrition or are withdrawn from schools to meet their households' needs for added income.

Ackermans says that the United Nations-supported microfinance initiative with Amanah Ikhtiar hopes also to at the same time disseminate information about HIV/AIDS to the Malaysian public and reach those most marginalised by the illness.

"Our studies show that HIV/AIDS cases are prevalent among the poor, and microfinance organisations have done extensive networking work with them. We hope that Amanah Ikhtiar would help people overcome social taboos and discrimination in Malaysia," Ackermans says.

According to Malaysia's health ministry, there are 30,187 reported HIV cases in the country as of the end of 1999. There are 2,761 reported AIDS cases and 2,157 deaths for the same time frame.

UNAIDS and the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimate that there are 33.4 million adults and children living with HIV and AIDS worldwide. Furthermore, an additional 16,000 new HIV infections occur everyday.

Some 14 million adults and children have died from HIV-related illnesses. Approximately eight million children have lost one or both parents to HIV and AIDS and it is predicted that these numbers will rise to 40 million by 2010, with large rises expected in Asia.

The economic isolation that HIV and AIDS bring in Malaysia often comes with social discrimination and lack of public awareness about the illness and the fact that people can still lead productive lives.

Says Ben Quinones of the Asia-Pacific Development Centre in Kuala Lumpur: "There is social ostracism where the sufferers are shunned and prefer to keep their existence as skeletons in their closets."

Marina Mahathir, president of the Malaysian AIDS Council, agrees and says religious leaders can do a lot in helping with correcting misperceptions. It does not help that open discussion of sex is a taboo subject in this mainly Muslim country.

While it is impossible to talk about HIV/AIDS without mentioning sex, Mahathir says that the council and other non- governmental organisations are making some progress. The council recently held a seminar tittled "Islam and AIDS", with Islamic scholars attending the consultation session.

"They even agreed that education about HIV/AIDS is a must in schools or we are exposing our children to infection," adds Mahathir, daughter of Malaysia's Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.

Already, Indonesia, the biggest Muslim country in the world, broadcasts condom advertisements in its channels. Here in Malaysia however, opposition Islamic leaders have accused Mahathir of endangering morals by promoting the use of condoms for HIV/AIDS prevention.

Remarks Mahathir: "Malaysia still has a long way to go and I agree that this makes it difficult to take greater initiative about HIV/AIDS." (END/IPS/ap-he-hd/rm/js/99)
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