I AM 29 AND INFECTED WITH HIV, TAKE CARE, PEOPLE
Armenpress
Oct 6, 2005
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 6, ARMENPRESS: “I am 29 years old. I was infected
with HIV when using a syringe to inject drugs in Russia. I began
having health problems caused by infectious hepatitis and went for
a medical examination.
After examining me the doctor suggested that I also undergo an
HIV test.
When they told me the test was positive I did not want to live,
I wanted to shut myself off from people, I was afraid that I could
infect my family. I was pacified only after learning how HIV or AIDS
is transmitted from one person to another. I do not want people to
know about my disease because I am afraid of their discrimination,
of being rejected by the society that considers it ‘shameful’.
This is one story from a book compiled by HIV/AIDS carriers, called
‘We Too Want to Live’. The stories are all different but the plight
and fears of these people are the same – how to live with HIV, how to
pacify their hearts, especially when they have children, but are afraid
to have them examined fearing they may also test positive. HIV/AIDS
carriers in Armenia lead a secret life and often even their closest
relatives are unaware of their disease. The majority are men who became
infected through intravenous drug injection, but statistics show an
alarming tendency of growth in the number of women with HIV. This
situation is a result of women’s physical and social vulnerability,
lack of knowledge about HIV/AIDS and the high-risk behavior of their
husbands and partners, many of who come home from Russia where they
had gone looking for work.
A local non-governmental organization called ‘Real World, Real People’,
established in 2003, has brought together volunteers who want to help
people living with HIV. Members of this organization provide them
with social, legal and psychological assistance. Hovhannes Madoyan,
the chairman of the organization, says: “The more we worked with
these people the better we began to understand that people with HIV
could provide psychological assistance to others like themselves. At
the moment, we have three mutual assistance groups – two in Yerevan
and one in the province of Lori.”
The organization is working with 50 people, most of them men. Women
find it harder to adapt to their new situation and are more likely
to fall into deep depression than men. The major problems of these
people are social.
Many of them used to work outside Armenia and when they came back they
were reluctant to look for jobs here. Though the people around them
are unaware of their condition, the infected people shut themselves
off from society.
Madoyan says they have a feeling of disgrace, finding they are worth
nothing and that no employer would give them a job. Besides there
is a change of roles in families with the burden of the bread-winner
shifting to women, this is also a heavy psychological situation for
Armenian males, considered traditionally the main bread-winners. Though
there is no record of a man or a woman being sacked because of HIV,
this is because its carriers keep it secret.
“We talk about the history of the disease,” Madoyan says “and how
it is spread, what effect it has on the immune system as well as
the biological and psychological developments. Later, they will pass
on that knowledge by talking with other people living with HIV.” He
says this type of assistance is effective in reaching a group that
might otherwise not listen to someone else from a different social
background. No cases of suicide caused by HIV were reported, but many
people lead a life that is tantamount to a slow suicide. The reason
is that HIV is still the plague of the 20th century and people have
no hope and do not believe they can lead an active life for another
7-8 years more.
There are also problems concerning primary health availability
for people with HIV. Hovhannes Madoyan says many people with HIV
complained about doctors who refuse to examine them after learning
they are HIV-positive. He says the reaction of doctors could be
understood as they are not protected enough against the disease. The
anti-retro-virus is applied in many countries as a preventative
medicine in case of contact with infected blood.
It reduces the risk of being infected ten times. The organization
plans to ask the health ministry to register this medicine and once
doctors are immune from HIV, cases of their refusal to treat people
with HIV/AIDS would be considered a violation of the constitutional
right of all citizens to medical care.
If previously infected women were avoiding having children, according
to Madoyan, their chances of giving birth to healthy babies are
higher now.
They can get a course of an anti-retrovirus treatment before
delivery. But Madoyan also says neither society, nor HIV/AIDS sufferers
are prepared today to raise and debate the problem of HIV/AIDS. He
argues that all such programs will prove effective only with the
participation of those infected.
“They are not ready to openly speak about their problems,” he says.
Cynthia Backley, who coordinates an HIV/AIDS program for the three
nations of the South Caucasus, says the main problem is peoples’
poor knowledge about the disease and their intolerance towards
infected people.
Studies showed the intolerance is caused by misperceptions of how it is
transmitted, the level of its danger and how it can be prevented. She
says when people have no information about these issues they are prone
to discriminating against HIV or AIDS victims. Discrimination against
HIV/AIDS carriers is present in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. A
survey showed that one third of respondents said they would reject
friendship, contacts or communication with such people. In this sense
education programs for the three republics are important. Backley
highlighted a program called ‘Equal to Equal’ which is implemented
by Armenian AIDS Prevention Center.
Samvel Grigorian, head of the National AIDS Prevention Center,
says the number of people with this disease is on the rise, but he
attributes this to higher accessibility of examination rather than to
their real increase. The first case of HIV was registered in Armenia
in 1988. According to official statistics, between 1988 and 2005,
the number of people living with HIV/AIDS in Armenia, a country with
a total population of around 3 million, is 344.
The HIV/AIDS situation assessment, however, has shown that the
estimated number of people living with HIV/AIDS is about 2,400-2,800.
The economic crisis, unemployment, labor migration and the rapid growth
of HIV rates in the region contribute to the spread of HIV/AIDS in
Armenia, where an unprecedented 53 new cases of HIV infection have been
registered this year. Out of the officially registered 344 carriers
325 are men, 72 are women and 6 are children. The first children with
HIV were registered in 2001, and virtually all of them were infected
by their mothers, but this does not represent the full picture as
many mothers refuse to have their newborn babies tested for HIV.
The majority of HIV/AIDS carriers are in their 20s. Most infection
comes about through the intravenous injection of drugs – 53.6 percent –
and through heterosexual contacts – 38.2 percent. Ninety-one of these
people have AIDS, 17 are women and 4 children. Sixty-seven people
with AIDS have died, including 10 women and 2 children. Those who
were infected by drug injection were all men, some of who had worked
or studied in Russia and Ukraine.
It is very expensive to treat HIV sufferers in Armenia. Twenty people
have been receiving anti-retrovirus treatment this year and they
will have to take the medicine for the rest of their lives. The
medicine was brought to Armenia thanks to a $7.2 million grant
donated to Armenia by the Global Fund to Fight Against Malaria,
TB and AIDS. Though many scientists are skeptical about Armenicum,
a drug developed through Armenian research, it is said to strengthen
the immune system. Armenicum is being applied now in Zambia, Liberia
and India. Officials from Armenicum Center say it is now being tested
in 20 countries and Russia is likely to register it soon. At the
initiative of the Armenian health ministry 50 patients are being
treated with it free of charge.
These projects are being carried out as part of a national program for
the prevention of HIV/AIDS with the support of government agencies,
non-governmental and international organizations. Every year on
World AIDS Day, local organizations in partnership with Armenian
churches organize a number of events aimed to raise awareness on
HIV/AIDS. Memorial services for the victims of HIV/AIDS are held
in the churches in Holy Etchmiadzin and in the regions. The church
leaders address the importance of focusing on women and girls and
their vulnerability to HIV. They also stress the role of women in
preserving traditional family values, which is crucial in the battle
against HIV/AIDS.
The HIV/AIDS situation in the world and in Armenia, its impact on
women and girls, the issues of HIV education, prevention, treatment
and care are discussed during the live TV program dedicated to the
World AIDS Day.