Thinking ‘Positive’ about AIDS

My friend died of HIV at the time when treatment was still unavailable and even if it were, it was way too expensive for someone on a limited means. Needless to say, the loss was devastating and scary: Devastating because you see a loved one suffer from the physical pain; scary because at that time, there was no known cure yet for the disease. 

AIDS is a disease in which there is a severe loss of the body’s immunity; greatly lowering the resistance to infection and malignancy. It is caused by the HIV virus and spread primarily through sexual contact or the use of infected needles. Blood transfusion is also one channel, although more careful screening nowadays had minimized HIV-infections through this modus. One thing is unmistakable in all of this — AIDS is one of the greatest threats to humanity and every country is affected, but developing countries are hardest hit.

In the Philippines, 427 new cases of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) had been reported in September alone, according to the Department of Health (DOH) for a cumulative number of 3,581 cases in 2013 so far. The country has a total of 15,283 cases reported since 1984 based on data from the Philippine HIV and AIDS Registry. The numbers as they stand now is quite appalling considering that the Philippines is one of the few countries in Asia where HIV infections have been rising whereas AIDS hotspots before such as Cambodia and Thailand have shown significant declines. It is for this reason, and the fact that HIV-AIDS is totally preventable; that public attention and concern should refocus toward preventing the spread of HIV and the human rights and dignity of the people who are HIV positive and are now actually fighting for their lives. This is what Positive, a drama series, airing every Thursday night at 9 on TV5 is all about.

Positive follows the story of Carlo Santillan, played by Martin Escudero, a call center agent who, after having previously lived a hedonistic lifestyle, later discovers that he has since developed HIV/AIDS, and attempts to track down who might have infected him. The series is the Philippines’ first television program that directly deals with the topic of HIV/AIDS. It premiered last Oct. 17 as part of TV5’s primetime block.

Martin, who won Best Actor awards for the indie film Zombadings and was lauded in a film review in the New York Times for the said film, shared that, “Playing Carlo is a very challenging role. I had to go through workshops with the AIDS Society of the Philippines to fully immerse myself to the situation. We all know that there is still stigma against people with HIV. It’s a silenced reality. I really have to give justice to the character so that the program will be successful in its objective of upholding the courage and humanity of people living with AIDS.”

As to why he thinks that the drama series is important for people to watch, “People should watch it because the story is groundbreaking. HIV and AIDS have never been discussed as a main theme of a local drama series —  always the subplot. But the thing is, every day an average of 13 Filipinos are reported positive of HIV. This is a reality that we choose to ignore. Marami pa ring misconceptions at myths. Not enough people are talking about it.”

Experts agree that respect for human rights is at the center of an effective strategy for combating the spread of HIV. Lack of respect for human rights intensifies vulnerability to HIV and hampers effective help for people with HIV and AIDS. It is therefore crucial to confront stigma and discrimination, and give particular attention to supporting women, young people, migrant workers and other vulnerable groups. According to Martin, if he himself suspects that he has been infected with HIV that he would “immediately seek medical assistance so that I can prolong my life. I will cherish life more, mas mamahalin ko ang pamilya ko, mga kaibigan ko. But I’ll always remember that I still have a life to live.”

Overall, as the Positive drama series would reiterate again and again, prevention is key to any effective response by society as a whole to HIV and AIDS. Urgent action is needed by all concern: Government, private sector, civil society, educators, parents and the general public to avert the devastating consequences of widespread HIV infection in the Philippines and to stop HIV-AIDS in its tracks. The revered South African leader, Nelson Mandela whose last surviving son, Makgatho Mandela, had died of an AIDS-related illness had this to say, “The more we lack the courage and the will to act, the more we condemn to death our brothers and sisters, our children and our grandchildren. When the history of our times is written, will we be remembered as the generation that turned our backs in a moment of a global crisis or will it be recorded that we did the right thing?”

(Martin has been invited by the Asian Development Bank as one of its speakers for its World AIDS Day Commemoration today.)