Last week, I was hosting this professional chair lecture forum about Men having sex with Men or simple known as MSM. According to PDI article last December 1, 2008, MSM is now very common in the Philippines and even one of the leading cause of widespread of HIV/AIDS. Respondents of this study are from Cebu City and the main purpose of this research is to find out how this men having sex with men came up with a decision of not having sex anymore. The study highlighted factors which affected mens decision? and also those turning point in their life or as used by the research "proximal life changes?" for them to really stop.
Actually, this is one of the very interesting research lecture I have attended. The study was authored by Dr. Lee and I believed it is more helpful for program planners to consider other initiatives in crafting effective intervention for HIV/ AIDS aside from advocacy. The main finding showed that the family or a loveone is an important factor that leads MSM to end it's activity which is logical that if someone has a strong relationship with an opposite sex then they will not resort into having sex with men. In some way, this is insulting for women knowing that their partner exchange them with men but whether women will accept it or not there are really so many men right now having this kind of relationship with fellow men. I know that when a woman finds out that her boyfriend had this kind of relationship, her first initial reaction will be "OMG!" but it's now commonly practice based from this study.
After the lecture several questions from the students were raised but what surprised me was most of their querries were not really centered on MSM but these are basic questions about HIV/AIDS. Take for instance, one participant asked about the origin of AIDS? like, is it really true that it's monkey that causes AIDS? or if we have sex with monkey we can have AIDS? or Can we get AIDS in public toilet? Well, definitely the answer to question like this is "NO!" and I was surprised that how come these young people were not aware about these things when in fact there are so much information about it in the internet or there are many NGO's now especially here in Manila that talk about it during WORLD AIDS Day or other forum.
The more we are astonished by their reactions when the lecturer flash those slides about sexually transmitted diseases since their common responses are "oh!my God!". Like, it seems to me that it's only their first time to watch those kinds of pictures. Well, when we discussed with my classmate about the student reactions we tried to rationalize that maybe most of them came from catholic schools, or maybe they know but just to pretend that they do not about this so they reacted that way but I can't help to think that an 18 year old college students does not know that monkeys are not the cause of AIDS and yet knows how to have sex because if that is the case then it is really "OH!MY GOD!"
As in facilitating this forum, I can also react like "oh, my God! please don't blame the monkey. But anyway, maybe there is really a gap in our advocacy here or maybe out of hypocrisy students overacted that way or maybe they know but just to cover up themselves that they are innocent about this things so they did act like "OMG!Next slide please" or maybe our advocacy does not reach them? or it fails to reach them?
Well, if really these young people do not have much knowledge about how HIV/AIDS WAS transmitted and they are sexually active for sure it is really "OMG!" because they are vulnerable to this infection. After the forum, I told them that we really hope they have learned something so that next time they will not blame the monkeys anymore.Then, some of them are laughing but it is also another point of reflection for HIV/AIDS advocates that maybe we are thinking that we have gone far in our advocacy but the truth is there are still many people who do not have knowledge about it take for instance these group of young people.
It is a call for us to again revisit our HIV/AIDS advocacy and is it really imparted in Social Science Curriculum because even if it is embedded in the curriculum but if teachers do not want to talk about it in their classroom it is still not helping them to learn.
I think we cannot always blame "God" for the widespread of Sexually Transmitted Diseases or for contracting HIV for the concrete thing to do is to discuss about it openly and discuss it in an open environment. We should not be hypocrite about it because one of the findings in a research on Filipino sexuality conducted by UP showed that young people in the Philippines are sexually active. Then, we lack knowledge about it well it is really a big "OMG!"
So to be able to help here I added in this blog basic history of HIV/AIDS because I also do not want to be a part of "OMG Team" since after working with HIGALA association my history now is quite obsolete so let's review it again.
AIDS Timeline source: AVERT - an international AIDS charity at http://www.avert.org/aids-timeline.htm
Before 1970s HIV (the virus that causes AIDS) probably transfers to humans in Africa between 1884 and 1924 HIV probably enters Haiti around 1966
1970s HIV probably enters the United States around 1970
African doctors see a rise in opportunistic infections and wasting
Western scientists and doctors remain ignorant of the growing epidemic
1981 AIDS is detected in California and New York
The first cases are among gay men, then injecting drug users
1982 AIDS is reported among haemophiliacs and Haitians in the USA
AIDS is reported in several European countries
The name “AIDS” – Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome – is created
Community organisations in the UK and USA promote safer sex among gay men
1983 AIDS is reported among non-drug using women and children
Experts become more confident that the cause of AIDS is infectious
Three thousand AIDS cases have been reported in the USA; one thousand have died
1984 Scientists identify HIV (initially called HTLV-III or LAV) as the cause of AIDS
Western scientists become aware that AIDS is widespread in parts of Africa
The world's first needle exchange program is set up in Amsterdam, the Netherlands
1985 An HIV test is licensed for screening blood supplies
AIDS is found in China, and has therefore been seen in all regions of the world
1986 More than 38,000 cases of AIDS have been reported from 85 countries
Uganda begins promoting sexual behaviour change in response to AIDS
1987 AZT is the first drug approved for treating AIDS
The UK and other countries act to raise awareness of AIDS
1988 The American government conducts a national AIDS education campaign
Health ministers meet to discuss AIDS and establish a World AIDS Day
1990 Around 8 million people are living with HIV worldwide, according to estimates made later
1991 Thailand launches Asia’s most extensive HIV prevention programme
1993 AZT is shown to be of no benefit to those in the early stages of HIV infection
1994 AZT is shown to reduce the risk of mother-to-child transmission of HIV
Infant HIV infections begin to fall in developed countries, due to use of AZT
1995 The Joint United Nations Programme on AIDS (UNAIDS) is established
1996 Combination antiretroviral treatment is shown to be highly effective against HIV. In developed countries, many people begin taking the new treatment
Annual global spending on AIDS in low- and middle-income countries is $300 million
1997 AIDS deaths begin to decline in developed countries, due to the new drugs
Brazil is the first developing country to begin providing free combination treatment
In other developing countries, only a tiny minority can access treatment for HIV
Around 22 million people are living with HIV worldwide, according to estimates made later
2000 President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa voices support for AIDS dissidents
2001 At a UN Special Session, world leaders set long-term targets on HIV/AIDS
2002 The Global Fund is established to boost the response to AIDS, TB and malaria
Botswana begins Africa’s first national AIDS treatment programme
2003 AIDS drugs become more affordable for developing countries
The “3 by 5” campaign is launched to widen access to AIDS treatment
The first AIDS vaccine candidate to undergo a major trial is found to be ineffective
2004 America launches a major initiative called PEPFAR to combat AIDS worldwide
After much hesitancy, South Africa begins to provide free antiretroviral treatment
2006 Circumcision is shown to reduce HIV infection among heterosexual men
28% of people in developing countries who need treatment for HIV are receiving it
Annual global spending on AIDS in low- and middle-income countries is $8.9 billion
It is estimated that $14.9 billion would be needed for a truly effective response
2007 Around 33 million people are living with HIV, according to revised estimates
Another major HIV vaccine trial is halted after preliminary results show no benefit
Good, you finally came with this article that stressed you so much after that forum. Well, one factor as well is gender issue...in a Macho Society like Philippines, women are still widely consider as naive, submissive, and Maria Clara in which being knowldgeable about sexual health, HIV and AIDS included and ect is considered as "something else in the society" - there is still so much to do about HIV and AIDS in the Philippines. While that is a hindrance, funding is a big one too - funding is dwindlling as most of it goes to country with prevalence rate such China, India and Africa...complacency should be carefully watched - that can be a cause for "ice-berg" phenomenod of AIDS in Pinas.
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