Persons who knowingly infect others with HIV

Dear Eve

with ROSIE STONE

Monday, February 01, 2010

Dear Eve,

I have got more aware off the virus and how to treat someone with the disease like you would a normal human being. It's funny how we scorn people with HIV and AIDS and gay people, but molesters, murderers get so much respect. I know for a fact people are afraid to contract the disease because they somehow think they are going to die automatically and people are afraid of death. If the campaigns focused more on the fact that you are not going to die immediately they would be easier to digest. I have so much respect for those living with the disease.

I have a relative who found out last year that she has the virus. The person who infected my relative is still there infecting other people. When my relative was admitted in the hospital, there were at least five to 10 other women on the ward at the same time who were infected by the same man. Can't you people do something about it?

Thanks anyway. God bless you.

Dear Affected,

You belong to a community of persons who have a family member who is infected with HIV and so you are 'affected'. I applaud all your efforts on behalf of your relative. I know from personal experience that without the support of family and friends I would not be alive today. You know what it is like to see your relative get sick, be hospitalised, sleep in the same room with her and generally, along with your other family members support and take care of your loved one. The shopkeeper I wrote about last week, on the other hand, has not yet acquired your natural empathy for others and we hope he will someday soon.

The campaign

The anti-stigma campaign is one of many mass media that involves HIV awareness. 'Time to talk', 'Smart, sexy, wise' and 'Get tested, Ah Nuh Nutten' are examples of others. The fact that the anti-stigma campaign by the National HIV/STI Programme uses real infected persons like myself -- as opposed to actors -- is an acknowledgement that HIV-positive persons are integral and relevant to combating the challenges of HIV.

Today, more than any other time, the protocols for caring for infected persons are well developed. There are free medicines to access, a whole cadre of healthcare workers are working very hard to try to keep people living for as long as possible and there are treatment sites in every parish in Jamaica -- 22 in total.

Persons who knowingly infect others

There is no legal redress system that exists in Jamaica that can legally punish someone for infecting another. We have to be very careful with how we judge others.

I do not know if you have evidence that the person who infected your relative did so with malicious intent. There might be persons that belong to this category, but I believe that many people, like the male you talk about, did not choose to have one sexual partner, but multiple partners. The only recourse that women have is to become advocates for themselves.

We have to ensure that our partners use a condom every time if we are sexually active. In my almost two decades of being HIV-positive I have talked to scores of women and many of them are virus free because of their own advocacy.

Infidelity is usually a deal breaker for many women, especially inside a marriage, and in the marriages that survive, women have used the situation to demand condom use. Others have just stopped having sexual relationships with their partners.

Many of these situations are sad and small in their scope but it seems to me that women who can, should try to ensure that the choices that they make in the sexual arena are in their best interest and will keep them safe.

Did you watch American football's Super Bowl on Sunday?
	Yes, but just for the advertisements
	Yes, just for the game itself
	Yes, for both the game and advertisements
	No, I did not watch the Super Bowl.

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Persons who knowingly infect others with HIV