Stupid Myths

Tag came home and told me this story yesterday. He said, his coworker came to him and warned him to be careful in drinking Pepsi because word is spreading around his company that an HIV worker in the Pepsi factory is dropping his infected blood in the soda. Tag just laughed because it was just stupid. I told him, that what is more stupid is that people are spreading it, believing in it and getting scared even in his company of educated people.

So what's the impact of this? People are still unaware of the facts.. on how HIV can be transmitted. People still believe on myths. Are we  back to the hand-shake scare or the sneeze scare of transmission of the disease? Are people blind and deaf to the awareness programs and all the information being disseminated around the world? Are people unaware that because of their stupidity, of the fact that having this "Pepsi Scare", they are already contributing to the strong stigma attached to the HIV/AIDS. How can people living with the disease fully heal when talks like these scare people away? How can our families and friends who are close to us even talk about our struggles and achievements in fighting the disease when the community is scared and is still believing in myths?

Let's stop this stupidity and start believing in the facts. Stop spreading this Pepsi-scare nonsense and instead start spreading more knowledge about HIV/AIDS.

FOR TOPIC SUGGESTIONS, please email me at pozziepinoy@yahoo.com

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Another Face

It's really bothering me why the incidence of HIV/AIDS is still on the rise when there are a lot of awareness programs going around the country. I wonder why people, like me, never listened. I wonder why these awareness programs never penetrated my very mind. I wonder why I didn't get scared. I read another blog and the blogger said, in his opinion, that the awareness programs are useless. He was aware and still he caught HIV. I was like that too. So why? We are all aware that the incidence of HIV is still rising, but with the increasing awareness, so is the number of HIV/AIDS infections. Is it because more and more are getting tested? Maybe, but we have to be more happy if those who have been tested turn out to be negative, but seems more are infected. We also have to consider that there an alarming number of blood donors who still don't know that they are infected too. They are lingering somewhere in our society. Are they aware? Maybe. But I guess, they are more scared of being tested.

I don't want to blame culture and religion anymore. I'm done with that. What is important is what we can do, now. What I can do now to help.

So what is the root of the problem in our society? DOH is presenting an alarming 8 persons per day infection and there are already 7,684 persons living with HIV. How come we are not alarmed yet?

We are all just part of the statistics, that is why. We are just numbers to most congressmen and politicians. Only a few came out with a full face and identity to help prevent the spread of the disease. Most people believe because the virus is not attached to a lot of faces, we are just numbers to them. Because people are not coming out to tell their stories in public, a lot of people may think that HIV/AIDS is a myth only... that it doesn't exist.

The awareness programs here, mostly are in visual photos, show real people... famous and good looking people. In Africa they showed dying people.. people who are in their death beds trying to fight.. and people listened. Here awareness programs don't invite people to come out, or invite more PLWH to share their stories publicly. In other countries, the PLWH are walking out on the streets fighting for their rights. In our country, mostly the activists are doing the talking, in other countries, the PLWH especially those who are sick with OI's show up in public and government held forums.

I thought about coming out to the public. I want to actually. Im 75% ready. I worry about my partner and my family though. I don't know if they are ready to answer questions about me and how it will affect their lives. But if this will help to humanize those numbers, I am more than willing to come out and show myself and tell everybody that I have AIDS. I have a great story to tell and to share.

I know I need to learn from the other pozzies who came out before. I need to know their struggles. I need to know how they prepared their loved ones. This is another phase of my life that I know I can really influence people to listen. I really wanna give hope. I want to put another face on the disease and belong to the list of courageous men and women who have done it in the name of helping other people, to prevent and fight this virus.

FOR TOPIC SUGGESTIONS, please email me at pozziepinoy@yahoo.com

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My Second Month

Today is my second month of taking ARV's, exactly 60 days. Whew. No more side effects, I hope.

To recap once more, I started taking ARV's last October 6. My cocktail includes tenofovir, lamivudine and efavirenz.  I take them all at once at night time, at exactly 10pm on an empty stomach. I am also taking cotrimoxazole, 800 mg a day at 7am and azithromycin, 1250 mg once every week which I take it every Wednesday.

How about side effects? On my 12th day of taking the ARV's, I had rashes all over my body which resolved in 3 days. My ALT or SGPT also went up to a staggering 328 after 17 days of treatment. After that there were on and off minimal itchiness. I sometimes felt hot.

Right now, I can say that I am on my best health. Since last year I had already bouts of on and off fever and monthly diarrhea. This is the first time that I feel that I am not getting sick at all. I can say that being strong mentally and physically help a lot. The ARV's too, it seems, are doing wonders to my body and I am continuing to believe in them.

My message to all those who are getting ready to take the medicines, is to be strong and just trust in the medicines. Our body has the greatest capability to adjust so just believe that the medicines will work. Have patience all the time, the symptoms will subside and the side effects will abate. Eventually, you will feel better again.

FOR TOPIC SUGGESTIONS, please email me at pozziepinoy@yahoo.com

DONATE to The Love Fund : The Love Fund

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Facts

I read these facts from 4 articles yesterday as the country celebrated the World AIDS Day:

1. Nine out of every 10 cases were infected on account of high-risk sexual contact

2. Senator Miriam Santiago has filed a measure seeking to replace the law to control and prevent the spread of the disease known as Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrom

3. Philippine Health Insurance Corp. vowed to provide strong protection and full support to members who acquire the highly infectious human immunodeficiency virus


4. More and more Filipinos have become afflicted with HIV/AIDS: 253 new cases in Sept. 2011 alone. This is 65 percent higher than the number of new cases in Sept. 2010.

4. According to the DOH, the number of cases has risen by 40% from 2010, with 6 to 8 people diagnosed with HIV every day.

5. OFWs accounted for 23 percent, or 1,729, out of the 7,684 total cases in the National HIV and AIDS Registry as of Sept. 30


6. 15 Filipinos so far have died this year due to HIV/AIDS.

7.  Quezon City reported the most number of HIV cases with 1,669 people tested positive this year.

8. The Philippines is one of only seven countries in the world struggling with rapidly increasing new HIV infections, despite the global downtrend

9. This year, Quezon City has budgeted more than P3 million for its anti-HIV efforts.


10. All in all, since 1984, there have been 339 HIV/AIDS-related deaths, and a total of 7,684 Filipinos reported to have HIV/AIDS.

11. From January to September this year, a total of 1,669 new HIV infections were passively discovered in the country, up 40 percent versus the 1,201 cases detected over the same nine-month period in 2010

12. The DOH warns if the public fails to heed warnings about the disease, the country could be looking at more than 40,000 HIV cases by 2015.

13. At the rate new cases are being spotted, government could be spending P1 billion yearly by 2015, just to procure the antiretroviral drugs needed to treat Filipinos with HIV

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Blow The Red Whistle Today!

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World AIDS Day Wishlist

Today is World AIDS Day! It is my first time to celebrate it. I for one, is a person living with AIDS. I am a living example because of the disease. I am one of the many who experienced the struggle and the pain.

But I am a survivor and I am a fighter. Now, I am happy.

As part of my own celebration of the Day, I made a wish list. I hope other people will listen.

1. I became infected because of ignorance.
    a. I wish people in our country would listen to the different organizations that are promoting awareness.
    b. I wish everyone would listen that HIV/AIDS is a real threat to our country now that the incidence rate is alarmingly increasing

2. I became infected because it was fun.
    a. I wish people should understand the value of being responsible, of taking care of their body.
    b. I wish everybody should practice safe sex. Wearing a condom doesn't take away the fun of sex.

3. I ended up in the hospital because of AIDS. I wish people would get tested early to avoid early infections.

4. I accepted that I have AIDS because of the love and support of my partner and our families. I wish people would be open to their love ones all the time. It is the love that brings all of us together even in the darkest hours. Only love can understand and not discriminate.

5. I got infected because I allowed it to happen. I wish people could say NO if it's risky. NO to not wearing a condom. NO to promiscuous sexual behaviors. NO to drug addiction and sharing of needles. NO to recreational and enhancing drugs. NO to alcoholism which can lead to us not thinking rationally.

6. People get infected because they were not informed early. I wish that schools would instill values early to the youth's mind about the disease, it's causes and mode of transmission. I wish that educators be more vocal about it so everybody won't be afraid to talk about it.

7. I got treatment because of an international funding group.
    a. I wish that our government would acknowledge that the numbers presented by DOH are not just numbers... they are real people suffering and surviving.
    b. I wish that our government should pay more attention to local funding of new machines for testing, more decentralized accredited HIV/AIDS hubs providing cheap medicines and treatment to people living with HIV/AIDS nationwide.
    c. I wish that the government can strengthen more the awareness programs in the country.
 
8. I am still a person, a human being.
    a. I wish that people like me can soon come out to our own communities, to our country and have a unifying voice that the disease really exists.
    b. I wish that there would no longer be discrimination, so we can all start becoming role models to other people. Only through our own experiences with the disease that we can help to fully spread awareness.
    c. I wish that various religious and or conservative groups should not condemn us. We are people. We are not demons. We are not cursed or punished. We deserve to be treated like every one else.

It maybe wishful thinking but everyone knows that all these can be attained. We just need to hold hands and be united in the fight.

Happy World AIDS Day to everybody!

FOR TOPIC SUGGESTIONS, please email me at pozziepinoy@yahoo.com

DONATE to The Love Fund : The Love Fund

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Spread the Knowledge, Not The Virus!

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Celebrate The World AIDS Day Today!

Today the entire world is celebrating The World AIDS Day. This is held each year on, every December 1 and provides an opportunity for people worldwide, from different countries and races to join hands and unite in the fight against HIV, to show their support to people living with HIV/AIDS and to commemorate those people who have died. It started in 1988 and it was the first ever global health day.

The World health Organization (WHO) estimate that around 33 million people worldwide have been infected with HIV and that around two million each year die from AIDS identifying conditions. In lieu of this the United Nations General Assembly on October 27, 1988, officially recognized December 1, 1988, as World AIDS Day. Between 2011-2015, the World AIDS Day will have the theme of "Getting to zero: zero new HIV infections. Zero discrimination. Zero AIDS related deaths". The Wold AIDS Campaign focuses on "Zero AIDS related deaths" signifies a push towards greater access to treatment for all; a call for governments to act now.

So what can you do today? World AIDS Day is an opportunity for you to learn facts about HIV and put your knowledge into action. If you understand hos HIV is transmitted, how it can be prevented, and the reality of living with HIV today, you can use this knowledge to take care of your own health and the health of others, and ensure you treat everyone living with HIV fairly, and with respect and understanding.

Most people celebrate this day by:

1. Wearing a red ribbon, the international symbol of HIV awareness.
2. Help raise money for different HIV/AIDS organizations for prevention of the disease and for support of people living with HIV.
3. Attend and participate in HIV/AIDS conventions and seminars
4. Disseminate information about HIV/AIDS by sell ribbons and handing out flyers and pamphlets
5. Join a march or a rally to celebrate the day.
6. Join a small gathering of people living with HIV/AIDS and learn from their struggles
6. Do a personal ceblebration: praying for the people living with HIV/AIDS, light a candle to commemorate the day and pray for more awareness, unity and anti discrimination.

We can all do our part. Let's greet one another today and help the world celebrate our day, The World AIDS Day!

FOR TOPIC SUGGESTIONS, please email me at pozziepinoy@yahoo.com

DONATE to The Love Fund : The Love Fund

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