Email 216: Worried About Privacy

Posted by Pozziepinoy on 3:16 PM
Hi Pozzie Pinoy!

You can call me XXX, 27, and a confirmed HIV+. I recently discovered that I am positive just last year.

I know this is kind of a newbie question. But I'm having concerns with my privacy in terms of showing up to RITM-ARG. I live just a few kilometers from there and I am afraid someone I know might see me there. My dillema is that there might be someone just coming there with an HIV+ friend who knows me.

For now, I would only like to keep this a secret that my family are the only ones who know it. In this kind of sensitive matter, I'm not sure if I can trust some friends about it since I saw the gay circle how then can easily spread rumors about people with HIV, and afraid the news will spread like wildfire in case someone knows about my status.

Is there any way I can go to RITM in private? I really want to know my baseline CD4 and VL so I can start medicating ASAP. I'm currently living a very healthy lifestyle (working out and eating good food), and the only thing that bothers me are these tiny red spots appearing on my thighs, which might be a symptom of having a low immune system.

Hopefully you can help me with this. I wanna live a good life positive. :)

Thanks and morepower to your blog!

XXX



POZZIEPINOY’S RESPONSE

Hi XXX.

Thank you for your email.

I understand your dilemma. I respect your decision on keeping your HIV status as secret as possible. I agree with you that someone may spread the rumors about you as having it because you are seen in the HIV/AIDS Treatment hub.

However, there really is no recourse but to go to the government treatment hub if you want to avail of the FREE services that they offer. In RITM-ARG, everything is free: FREE CD4 test, free labs, free consultation and free ARV's. The only thing that is not free there is hospitalization and medicines for opportunistic infection which is not covered by the OHAT package of PhilHealth. Also, they don't give special treatment to anybody because one is scared to be seen by others. Still one has to follow all their procedures and protocol in the treatment process.

One option is if you opt to go to a more private facility where you can have a private HIV doctor. Of course you will be going to a private hospital and the services that will be rendered won't be free anymore. Also, there is still a possibility that there may be people who can still see you there especially during consultation. 

I know it is hard, but as long as the treatment hubs are in control of our medicines and that the ARV's are not available in local pharmacies, we have no option but to go to the treatment hubs or see private HIV doctors.

I hope I was able to answer your concerns. Feel free to email me again if you have other questions.


Stay healthy,
Pozziepinoy





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