AIDS: Man's Worst Enemy (Guest Article)

Guest Article

AIDS: Man's Worst Enemy

From Menletter July 2004

By Jerome Teelucksingh

Every year for World AIDS Day on 1st December, I am bombarded by advertisements, documentaries and articles on AIDS. There would be interesting reports on medical advances as cheaper anti-retroviral drugs are developed to prolong the life span of persons inflicted with the dreaded disease. AIDS was first reported in 1981 and has since taken a devastating toll throughout the world.

Millions of AIDS infected patients await a certain death but even more painful is the stigma and discrimination as they are shunned by relatives and friends. In the Caribbean, being diagnosed as HIV-positive or with AIDS is a terrifying death sentence. Medicine is expensive, insurance companies are unreliable and medical institutions usually do not have the facilities for proper treatment. I do not know of anyone HIV-positive or with AIDS and you might also believe the same, but some persons are infected and are not aware of their predicament.

Most people associate AIDS with unprotected, promiscuous behaviour. Whilst it is indeed a sexually transmitted disease, it can be spread from a pregnant mother to her unborn child, use of contaminated needles or through blood transfusions. Some of the frightening symptoms include night sweats, fever, weight loss, swollen lymph glands and skin rashes. Most of the persons living with HIV will develop full-blown AIDS during their life, usually an average of ten years or more after being infected. In the Caribbean, AIDS is one of the major diseases affecting adults especially those in the age group 24 to 49 years. As a result of advertising, many are deceived into believing that the condom is 100 percent safe for preventing the transmission of the AIDS virus. However, there are instances of leakage and bursting of this contraceptive and thus this is no guarantee of safety.

In 2003, the estimated number of people living with HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean is between 350,000 and 590,000. During 2003, UNAIDS (an international organization) reported that 45,000 to 80,000 adults and children were infected with HIV. The estimated deaths of children and adults from AIDS are between 30,000 to 50,000.

The AIDS epidemic in Africa cannot be sufficiently emphasized. Tens of thousands of children are helpless orphans as their parents have died from the dreaded disease. Superstition and a lack of knowledge on the disease have resulted in Africa losing its precious human resources.

The troubling question plaguing the Caribbean and other societies is - should abstinence or sex after marriage and a monogamous relationship be promoted? Or should sexually curious teenagers be educated on the use contraceptives? In 2003 there was a uproar among certain sections of the society in Trinidad and Tobago when the daily newspapers published a report of a youth group distributing condoms to students of a secondary school.

The issue of freedom of choice is critical among this generation of teenagers and young adults. At what age should children be exposed to sex education at schools? Parents cannot continue pretending that their children are not sexually active at school. Sex education in homes and schools should no longer be a taboo subject. It is now obvious that AIDS is no longer considered to be a disease affecting homosexuals or a particular ethnic group.

In the Caribbean, there is the common practice of men - including husbands and fathers - to have a sexual relationship outside of the marriage. This is locally referred to as 'horning' and the outside woman known as a 'deputy'. The women also engage in extramarital trysts but this phenomenon does not seem as common as the men. In the Caribbean, the macho image of the man being virile and able to satisfy or sleep with a number of women is a proud boast among friends in rumshops and bars.

Some men infected with AIDS are too afraid and ashamed of going to the hospitals and doctors for advice and treatment. Instead they resort to the quacks and untrained persons who offer homemade potions (locally known as 'bush medicine'), or herbal drugs to be rid of the disease. Obviously, these so-called antidotes and remedies produce no beneficial effects and only offer a false hope of recovery.

The media is guilty of encouraging this AIDS epidemic. The many soap operas, movies and certain half-hour comedies portray men and women who engage in casual sex without any thought of disease or long-term commitment. Furthermore, the suggestive antics of gyrating musical artistes or their perversions exposed in the tabloids provide fuel for an uncontrollable war on sexual diseases.

It is obvious that the traditional sanctity of sex being reserved for marriage is rapidly eroding. Yes, it cannot be denied, sex has become a cheap thrill in which partners are easily changed without any fear of the dire consequences on one's mental or physical health. I recently read of incidents in which persons with AIDS who did not disclose their condition to their partners are charged with a criminal offence for deliberately infecting others. A few years ago, in Tobago (sister isle of Trinidad), a female tourist who knew she had AIDS, infected a number of men whom she met on the beaches. This spread of AIDS through tourists from North America and Europe has been a problem plaguing Caribbean countries.