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"For the cause"
The
Star (www.thestar.com.my)
(01/12/06)
Byline: NIKI CHEONG
IN MY final year of college, I decided to organise a public event to raise
HIV/AIDS awareness. While planning, my team and I approached numerous
individuals and organisations for help. While we expected bigger companies
to ignore the plight of a bunch of 19-year-old students asking for funding
and sponsorship, I did not think that my peers would give the same cold
reception.
When a friend was asked to help with one of the activities, she replied:
“Why are you doing this? You don’t have AIDS.”
Many years on, that conversation still sticks to my mind.
Over the years, I’ve helped, albeit in small ways, to raise awareness on HIV
and AIDS, both in Malaysia and overseas when I was still studying.
I am not sure what it is about the cause that got my attention. In the
beginning, I didn’t even know anyone who was HIV-positive or living with
AIDS, save for the few people I met while organising said event.
These days, I know more than I would like to – only because one less
HIV-positive friend means that the numbers worldwide are declining. That’s
just a fantasy, though, because the numbers are not dropping.
But amid the current situation, I've learned from my friends who are HIV
positive that it is possible “to be positive about being positive”.
I wear the red ribbon occasionally throughout the year, apart from on Dec 1.
When people ask what it signifies (which I personally find surprising
considering the red ribbon, together with the pink ribbon for breast cancer,
is probably the most recognised of all ribbons dedicated to a cause), I
always say that I wear it so people like them can ask me about it.
It’s also my little way of contributing to the awareness of the cause, and
most importantly, in solidarity with the many friends who are living with
HIV and AIDS.
Just last month, a friend of mine told me that he had just discovered that
he was HIV positive. After all these years, I still didn’t know how to react
to that – he was the first friend of mine to find out that he was HIV
positive.
I’m glad that I didn’t overreact to the news, unlike many of his other
friends and even family members.
“Sure, I feel sad,” he told me, “but geez, it’s not a death sentence.”
In response, I said, “I know, but not many people realise that.”
It’s moments like that that make me wish more people would don the red
ribbon, and get educated on HIV and AIDS so they can tell others about it.
Stopping the epidemic is one thing, but sometimes, what matters even more is
being an understanding friend.
UNAIDS estimates that 39.5 million people in the world are currently living
with HIV, including 2.3 million children. In 2006, it is estimated that some
4.3 million people became newly infected with the virus. The statistics also
show that about half of those infected with HIV were younger than 25 when
they got it, and were killed by AIDS before they turned 35.
A recent study has shown that within the next 25 years, AIDS will become the
third highest cause of death worldwide – it is currently fourth behind
hearth disease, stroke and respiratory infections respectively. The report,
found in the Public Library of Science’s Medicine journal, estimates that
120 million people could die in the next 25 years.
The numbers are staggering and despite all efforts, they are not declining.
Also increasing with the numbers is the chance that one or more of them
might be a friend or relative.
Isn’t it about time we learn more about the cause, and together spread the
awareness?
Today is World AIDS Day. You can start by wearing the red ribbon and tell
everyone you talk to why you’re wearing it.
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