Reading What Sucks

I heard a very disturbing news report this morning. It was about how an NGO was fighting a hard battle against the bias AIDS victims have to face, not just in everyday life…but also from reputed doctors in top hospitals. It carried the story of a young HIV+ man who, along with his family, was made to run from pillar to post even for preliminary treatment…and this from well-known hospitals. The moment the doctors realised that he had full blown AIDS, their attitude completely changed…they hesitated in touching him…treating him…and he is now left to the mercy of his family members, and some friends. He wanted to know what happened to the heaps of money the government was ostensibly spending on AIDS patient, as grants to these very hospitals…where did it all go? He didn’t even get a penny’s worth of treatment.

It is really hard to swallow when educated people, or rather those who are supposed to help the patients start showing such prejudice. I have a friend working for the victims in red-light areas, and I get to hear even worse horror stories from her. It is often said education and awareness is the solution to such problems, and that because people do not fully understand the nature of the disease, do they resort to such behaviour…but how does one cure these cob-webs of the mind?

Give me a fistful of sky and an ounce of ether... and take eternity in return.

<what is a NGO?>

After decades of construction my website is finally up an running: www.kkds.de

Non-Governmental Organisation.

Give me a fistful of sky and an ounce of ether... and take eternity in return.

And, add to that a $100 million grant by Bill Gates that he has announced to give to India to fight AIDS...

...and moments after that I heard the news that the health minister of India - Shatrughan Sinha - saying in public that situation in India is not that bad as the media is projecting. I wonder if the minister would just open his eyes to reality some day. The lack of education is the main reason why people behave this way. Whatever the AIDS victims go through due to the ignorance of the doctors, nurses, friends, family members is all due to the unawareness on this subject. People still believe that they might contract the disease by just touching or coming in close vicinity of the victim. This is highly preposterous, and I am so sorry to see this happening in my country.

I just wish people change their attitude, and understand the plight of the patients, and bury their prejudices somewhere. But, it is probably going to take time, and a lot of effort from the government. I have still not lost hope.

Love is blind, but marriage is a real eye opener.

Follow up on the case:

Following the media reports, the man got the recommendation from the health minister, and after waiting for 4-5 hours outside the doctor’s room in the hospital, he was finally admitted. He was running very high temperature then, and to quote him…“had no life left in him”. His family had to listen to the doctors’ jibes about how they were trying to become “heroes” by going to the media, and that they should understand well that it was them, and not the media which was going to treat the man.

...and moments after that I heard the news that the health minister of India - Shatrughan Sinha - saying in public that situation in India is not that bad as the media is projecting.

Well, RCD, you know better. The less said about Indian politicians, the better.

Give me a fistful of sky and an ounce of ether... and take eternity in return.

I think we are in the neighborhood of 30 million dead so far from AIDS worldwide.

It is the tiny tip of the iceberg.

Angry people who push the news media into keeping the medical injustices and apathy of governments have made the most difference. Usually because they have lost someone or are losing.

So far, the governments and most religious bodies are fighting the need for condoms and clean needles. If not "publically", as earnestly as possible in private.

In the days of Leprosy and Tuberculosis, the disease was apparent even in the middle stages. We isolated them and the horror stories from those methods, and the "social awareness" of today prevents the stigma and institutionalism of AIDS in this country.

Lol......on the other hand, we have a President, who instead of pushing for Condoms and Safe Sex, clean needles.....wants abstenience and to continue a drug "war".....which from a blurb I read the other day....looks like we gonna be pulling some of the money from the "drug war" to put into another "war".

Research has come up with medicines that prolong the life of AIDS patients......hold off HIV positive turning into full blown AIDS. They are expensive.....very expensive.

Yes, there are Doctors, Nurses, aides, laundry people, housekeepers, orderlies.....that actually refuse to be in the area where AIDS is.....rare moreso now......but still out there.
It is a death sentence....and one ugly horrible death.

God help the surgeon who has to do an emergency surgery on a HIV positive person for a gall bladder or some such. A slight tear of that glove on freshly abraded skin to sterilize it...a tiny knick (which happens more often than not) deep in a bloody body cavity.

But in my experience....more are willing to step up than run from it.

Our biggest danger is apathy and lack of knowledge...this is a disease, that, that healthy young thing has been carrying around for months, years....not knowing they carry it, much less are passing it along.

It isn't that easy to catch....except from certain practices or accidents.

If you are not in the position to volunteer your own body and mind to hands on helping in some area.....ie...teaching those who are at risk through lack of knowledge, to actually hands on helping with the patients themselves....then keep writing and pushing the news media and government officials to answer questions as to "why" people are not getting treatment, medicines, etc.

But most of all.....keep yourself safe from the ever extending chain of infection.

quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

Research has come up with medicines that prolong the life of AIDS patients......hold off HIV positive turning into full blown AIDS. They are expensive.....very expensive.

Well, here comes the globalisation/Americanisation/patents debate raging in the developing countries. These anti-ritroviral drugs are very expensive because of the patents held by the giant pharmaceutical companies. Cipla, an Indian company created ripples in the pharma circles when it launched a generic version of the drug some time back. The drug was offered to African countries at a fraction of the cost these giants quoted. The result…even they were forced to lower the rates in these markets (though still not as low as Cipla). Now this brings us to the debate of whether these companies that develop the drugs after spending enormous sums of money should not patent their drug to recover the research costs. Of course, patents are necessary for the functioning of markets…but when people are dying every second (according to an estimate, 600 people contract AIDS every single hour), certainly there is a case for much cheaper generic versions of the drugs. Cipla, BTW, was sued by the patent holding companies…though I don’t know for sure what happened after that.

But in my experience....more are willing to step up than run from it.

Its heartening to hear that. Sadly, the situation in India…(and we already have about 4 million officially recognised HIV-AIDS cases…) is very different. As I said, prejudices run high not just amongst those are uneducated and ill-informed, but also amongst the educated lot.

Give me a fistful of sky and an ounce of ether... and take eternity in return.

Of course, patents are necessary for the functioning of markets…but when people are dying every second (according to an estimate, 600 people contract AIDS every single hour), certainly there is a case for much cheaper generic versions of the drugs.

Do I ever agree........I can see the drug companies point on the expense of the research and developement....the contract to the shareholders of stock that maintain the ability to continue..........But.........why the hell...are the governments.....the stockholders.....in the face of this massive epidemic...not coming forth with more effort???

Africa cannot afford to stand up against this.

Apathy and greed come most to mind.

quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

So here's the Cipla story...

Cipla offered to provide a cocktail of anti-retrovirals for less than $350 a year (compared to the big boys' $10,000) to MSF [Médecins sans frontiéres]. Obviously, GlaxoSmithKlein described Cipla as price-undercutting "pirates". Cipla's Hamied responded by saying, "Indeed, we are a commercial company. But I market 400 products in India. If I don't make money on a half-dozen of them, it's no big deal. I don't make any money on the cancer drugs we sell or drugs for thalassemia, a blood disorder that's common in India. We sell these drugs virtually at cost because I don't want to make money off these diseases which cause the whole fabric of society to crumble. India alone will have 35 million HIV cases by 2005, and it's something we can't afford."

I must add Hamied’s estimate of the number of HIV in India, by 2005, does not match the official projections…who put the figure at about 10 million by 2010. Though $350 a year seems a pittance as compared to $10,000, it mustn’t be forgotten that even the per capita income of the countries most seriously affected by the AIDS epidemic is less than $350 a year.

Give me a fistful of sky and an ounce of ether... and take eternity in return.

This post was edited by sifar on Nov 13, 2002.