AIDS in Asia

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

I'm amazed that Asian countries are going through all the same processes the US went throughwith AIDS: denial, villification, outrageous spread, then education. It alredy happened in the US and in many other countries. I don't understand why they would ignore it unil it became so major and out of control. Why not just jump to the end where we finally acknowledge the problem and start to do something about it?

[Anonymous]

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong here, but I know that some Asian countries have issues with shame. I don't mean to overgeneralize here, but this is just from personal experience. If something is wrong in your family or if there's something going on that society may look down upon, a person might find it shameful and be in denial about it. They tend not to talk about it and just ignore the problem thinking that it will go away.

I think a lot of the times, it's just fear of the unknown. Because the education of AIDS was much later in Asian countries than the US, people just didn't know what it was about. They might have had some wrong information about it and thought that if they had it, that it'd be a really shameful thing. It's easier to not talk about it and brush it aside. Issues of shame isn't as prevalent in the US as it is in Asia.

Does that make sense? Any thoughts?

[clay dube]

Dean's right -- it is stunning to see this sad history repeated. This is a topic that you might want to take up in the "Asia On My Mind" public forum. Here are a couple of recent articles that you may find interesting.

Business Week, 7/19/04 column on China's efforts to catch up
http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/jul2004/nf20040719_5639_db010.htm

Time 7/19/04
http://www.time.com/time/asia/magazine/article/0,13673,501031215-557111,00.html

BBC 7/12/04
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3886783.stm (a good review of the "head in the sand" problem)

To see how China ramps up once the CCP orders it, look at this article from the official Chinese news agency:
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-07/21/content_1621986.htm

One of the heroes of the effort to recognize and fight the problem is Gao Yaojie. Here's Dr. Gao's account of her own experience.
http://www.usembassy-china.org.cn/sandt/gaoyaojie--aidsprevention.html

[Anonymous]

With regards to AIDS, I am actually surprised that the numbers of incidences are not higher than what we saw in China in comparison to their total population. I surmise that it is or could be much higher than what is reported. For example, I remember the baffling words in a police report that said certain percentages of rapes go unreported. How do they know this if they are unreported? I suppose one way they can look at a statistic like that is if they simply calculate the margin of error or extrapolate some numbers by calculating satandard deviation. Of course, if the numbers AIDS victims are calculated from an outside third part source such as the W.H.O., then I would fathom that the numbers are more valid.

[Anonymous]

I was shocked as well as many of you to find out the realities of AIDS in Asia. Whenever I think out an outbreak like the numbers I saw yesterday I think of Africa. I had no idea that it was such a problem elsewhere as well. I fear that the same thing that is happeneing in Africa right now will eventually reach Asia as well. So many parents have contracted the HIV virus and have died that there are many orphans in Africa now. I remember watching a program that Oprah did on her visit to Africa just recently and I was saddened to see how many little children are left to fend for themselves in this world. It is the exact problem that Asia will face in years to come. How can we stop this trend though?

[Anonymous]

I read some of the articles you posted. I was sad to find the Chinese officials' reasons to hide the truth. They knew all along the problem with their people but they just didn't want "other people" to find out about their problem. If China is suppose to be a country about "family", then shouldn't the "family" of their people be more important then letting other people know about their situation. I agree with Geny about it possibly being a shameful thing/a stigma to the family. But isn't life more important than saving "face"--the government should have a responsiblity to their people! I want to know if I can do anything to help....is there any organization I join to help?

[Anonymous]

Well it may appear that in this country we don't have to worry about face in relationship to AIDS. I don't know how far ahead we are. There is still much denial. I don't know who I would tell if I had AIDS, I would feel too free telling people. I have a woman friend with AIDS, it is constantly a social struggle for her. Luckly her family is hip, but not the rest of the country. Yes, there is denial in China etc., but there is here too. :~
Even though it is NOT a gay disease the gay community opened up the discussion, and the testing and the drugs for people.
I sort of wonder if the treatment is available in Asia. If the drugs are available.

[Anonymous]

As everyone knows, change takes time. After reading the article from TIME magazine that Clayton posted, I was actually pleased to read that China is starting to address the problem by launching an AIDS public awareness campaign and having government officials visit AIDS patients.
Of course, it would be great if China would just learn from the lessons that the US had to painfully learn. I think that this is easier said than done. As they say, "Rome wasn't built in a day".
Let me also remind you that even in the US people are still ashamed when relatives and/or friends contract the AIDS virus, it is still a "hush hush" topic in many households.

[Anonymous]

I think it is less stigmatized here. In fact, I've heard discourse in the gay community about having unprotected sex and HIV being a sort of badge of rebellion and freedom. I am sure this is not a big following, but the fact it has been voiced I thin kis strange. Press is now talking about being infected and being under treatment that works doesn't mean you vcan be unsafe; it is possible to catch another strain your meds don't cover.

While there is a stigmatization of the infected I still don't see why that should keep the government and health officials silent. It just seems cruel, silly, and irresponsible to see what this disease has done and think, "well, it won't happen here if we ignore it."

[Anonymous]

Building on what Dean said, about how if you ignore AIDS it can't happen to you. I was reading the forward by Amy Tan for a book called "Red Ivy Green Earth Mother" by Ai Bei, which I am thinking of using for my curriculum project, when I came across something that relates to AIDS in China. Tan was speaking about how in early 1990's homosexual literature was not always funded or not published in America. She said that this question was posed to a Chinese writer if that would be an issue in China. The author replied by saying, "'We have no such problem in China. We have no homosexual literature in China because we do not have this problem--homosexuality. It does not exist.'"(Bai, viii). I think that this relates to the idea of saving face. If the problem is not talked about, then it is not real. The family and society must not be shamed. The spread of AIDS does exist and has to be addressed.

Furthermore, of course, it is not just a disease transmitted through homosexual encounters. I also found in the article entitled "Illegal Migration in China and Implications for Governance" Audra Bielke talks about how women who migrate illegally to China are used for commercial sex work. She talks about how China could become a sex tourism destination and that would increase the spread of AIDS. Considering the statistics we saw yesterday, this is happening now.

[Anonymous]

I am quite concerned about the spread of AIDS in Asia. There is obviously so much shame associated with AIDS that it seems as though if the issue is not discussed it will go away. Also, I can make a correlation between the shame of contracting AIDS as with the shame of having a child with disabilities. Denial and shame will not make either of these two issues go away. What happens when the families eventually are faced with the realization that the problem exists. How then do they handle these issues? Are family member who have contracted AIDS ostracized?

[Anonymous]

What I want to know is, how often is AIDS being spread into families by unfaithful spouses? We've mentioned in class about how men can be unfaithful and it is excused because men are inherently "weak." Are these men contracting HIV/ AIDS and spreading it to their families?
Many folks on this thread are talking about feelings of shame. Wouldn't it be the greatest shame to seal the fate of your spouse by giving them a deadly disease contracted through infidelity?

[Anonymous]

If these men are in fact spreading HIV/AIDS to their wives, I wonder if the women would end of feeling like it is their fault that this happened. In these Asian societies...it seems generally, the women take the blame for everything...do you think they would say that the women did not gain enough "merit" for their husbands? Maybe they might end up blaming the wife---- she was not a virtuous wife, therefore this happened.

[Anonymous]

After doing a lot of the reading for the seminar tomorrow regarding AIDS in Southeast Asia, I was horrified to learn that by 2010, there would be 25 million AIDS orphans. I was wondering what happens to these children besides the fact that they starve, are forced into child labor, are abused, and become sex workers. It really scares me that we as citizens of the world are not doing more to save and protect our children and let them be children. They are our worlds most precious asset, and a lot of the world ignores that. I wondered if any of these children have been adopted and brought to the US?

I was pleased to learn that Thailand was doing more bring down the spread of AIDS. I thought it was wonderful that monks were getting involved passing out condoms, and caring for the sick. I was moved by the monk who had lost his mother to AIDS.

I was also amazed that attitudes are really the thing that needs to change first. It was hard for me to stomach that women who ask their partners to wear a condom are considered loose. We have come so far in terms of women's rights in the US, but worldwide we have so far to go. And if the world doesn't change and accept women and children as being vital and equal to men, the resulting cost is DEATH.

[Anonymous]

In response to the posting with the idea of AIDS in the gay communitiy as a badge of honor ( a sign of rebellion and freedom), I have to say I am surprised too, at the notion. The following may be small, but I do follow this logic: if one has a unretractable disease or condition, it is a challenge and honor, a moral duty to represent the communitiy with the disease. The leaders of this front in Asia are fighting against so much: unequal rights of genders, lack of education and health care. As a 7th grade health teacher, I cover AIDS along with a myraid of STDs. I discuss the avoidance of drug use and abstainence from oral, anal and vaginal sex a way of avoiding STDs and abstinence as the only 100% way to avoing unwanted pregnancies(they get contraception in grade 9, which I personally think is too late). What is the sex education like for a 7th grader in Asia?

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