Hate the Disease, Not the Patient - World Aids Day
For a very long time all those diagnosed with AIDS have been discriminated against by our society. Ostracism, humiliation and mistreatment at the
hands of family members, doctors and society is becoming very prevalent. This
article discusses that whether we need to practice a differential approach
/treatment towards people with HIV or not.
When the misunderstandings regarding this illness will continue
to exist - how will people become aware of its true picture?
In the general opinion
of the public, AIDS is caused either due to having unsafe sex or having multiple
partners. This is the most important reason for the ostracism, humiliation and
mistreatment at the hands of family members, doctors and the society as a
whole. But in our thinking we intentionally or unintentionally tend to forget
or ignore that there could be various other reasons for the cause of this
chronic infection.
Consider a person who
has just got to know that he is an HIV positive. How shocked would he have been??
Anger, anxiousness, depression, grief, hopelessness - all at once. How feared
he would be over how the disease will progress, fear of isolation by family and
friends, worries about infecting others and so much more. What different means
are we going to adopt to solve his issues? Disgrace him/her and make them feel
guilty for what has happened to them? Can we be so cruel and insensitive?
People with aids have
great emotional needs and require support to come to terms with the infection. Today
we exist in an environment that offers no incentive to disclosure. The
disclosure itself will invite discrimination. People with aids need emotional, social
and economic support. This is where the family, friends, relatives and doctors
have to come to their rescue.
Ask yourselves a simple
question? Where do you want to be when you are ill? All of us would want to be
surrounded by people we love and are familiar with, so that we receive the
flexible and nurturing care.
Imagine the condition of
a five year old who has been made aware of his infection. Will he ever be able
to seek care in a medical setting or anywhere else away from his family? They
may want to talk freely with someone they can trust so that they don' have any
misleading information. This behavior might be a little effective in creating
an environment that is conducive to reducing the stigma that exist in the minds
of people. And for this we need to create awareness and sensitivity in the
minds of all those who still have a wide misunderstanding of the infection.
Imagine the condition of
infected mothers for whom social acceptability is an added pressure that
influences feeding methods. They should feed their babies on the available
knowledge and care. But due to stigmatization and the cultural norms to
breastfeed in some areas of the world, formula feeding is looked down upon.
It is the society and its people's mentality that needs
differential treatment, not the HIV patients.
What issues do HIV
people have? I know that there are debilitating effects of this syndrome - that
people with this infection might need assistance in doing even simple daily
tasks which we people may take for granted. They have to take the
antiretroviral drug everyday of their life which will bring home to them the
stark reality of HIV. They need love affection, care, concern and support. Nothing else.
We need to turn over a
new leaf and have a positive approach in dealing with these people. They are
like us - perfectly healthy and normal human beings. They are only ill - ill for
life. They need our help to confront this illness. We need to make them realize
that they are not alone.
HATE THE DISEASE, NOT THE PATIENT.
Signing off,
Nitsy
As a doctor, couldn't agree with you more..
ReplyDeleteGreat post..
Thank you sir. :)
Delete