My Newsradio Scripts

These are my old radio news scripts on Singapore's current affairs when I worked as a broadcast journalist.

Friday, April 08, 2005

OTGV #23 - Aids Series 1/5 - On the Homefront

Broadcast Date: 02/12/02

December first, World AIDs Day.

Not a celebratory date but an important date nonetheless.

It educates and this is this year's UNAIDS campaign message.

"Don't you touch my sister",
"You're not my son anymore".
You've just experienced some of the most painful symptoms of HIV and AIDS. Help us fight fear, shame, ignorance and injustice worldwide.

Live and let live.

The greatest pain of contracting AIDS isn't physiological.

It's the pain of rejection, discrimination, and ostracism.

Hi I am Chong Ching Liang and welcome to the first of an On the Grapevine series on the AIDS pandemic.

AIDS has been a malevolent juggernaut that's not let up despite better knowledge and medication that have surfaced in the last two decades of research.

Action for AIDs' President, Dr Roy Chan provides the grim statistics during the Third Singapore AIDS conference.

"Since we last met two years ago in December of 2000, another two million people have become infected with AIDS, HIV in Asia alone. There are now over 7 million infected persons in the region, it is clear that the epidemic has well and truly taken off and the most severely affected countries in the region are Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, and India. But more recently the epidemic has been increasing rapidly in parts of China, Viet Nam and our neighbour, Indonesia. In Singapore in the last two years, 450 or more Singaporeans and PR were diagnosed with HIV and AIDS. This brings the total number of infections to almost 1800 and over 600 have died from AIDS."

Compared to South Africa or perhaps Thailand that's closer to home, it is easy for Singaporean to think that 450 in two years isn't great shakes.

But each digit obscures the human face that it is. Dr Chan again.

"Whilst many have the support of families and friends, others have passed away alone, and have been abandoned. Memories have often been banished from families because of shame and embarrassment. We are very happy that this time there are individuals brave and committed enough to air their fears and hopes. I would like to recall these words of Nelson Mandela at Barcelona AIDS conference in July who in calling greater visibility and positive people says 'you must not be ashamed of speaking out, because when you keep quiet, you are signing your own death warrant.'"

In Singapore where intravenous drug consumption isn't a major problem, the spread of AIDS/HIV through drug addiction is rare.

The more primal urge of sex is the main cause.

"The overwhelming majority was transmitted through sexual intercourse. The majority of infections are seen in heterosexual males with a significant minority among homosexuals and bisexuals. 9 cases out of ten are in males. The proportion of females has not changed much over the years."

Times have changed.

Contracting AIDS is less of a death sentence these days.

"Modern medicine has now rendered AIDS a treatable disease. It is no more the uniformly infections that it was in the 80s and the early 1990s. Anti-HIV drugs can be given, can give infected individuals a very good chance to live long healthy and fulfilling lives."

But these medications aren't cheap and while they keep the infected individuals a more normal life, it doesn’t cure.

Minister of State for Health Balaji Sadasivan warns a dependency on current medical advances won't derail the AIDS pandemic.

"While medical treatment has improved the quality and length of life for HIV-infected persons, it cannot cure HIV disease. Once infected, despite the best and most expensive treatment, the quality of life over time can never be as good as those who are not infected. Despite treatment, a person with the HIV virus still can spread the infection. Since AIDS is almost always spread by careless and irresponsible human behaviour, the key to prevention is to educate people to be careful and responsible."

The costs of a life-saving triple cocktail of anti-retroviral drugs are still formidable for HIV/AIDS patients.

This fact is even more crucial when you consider the Health Ministry study that shows most new cases are blue-collared working class men whose monthly income may be less than a month's prescription costs.

Unfortunately, the Singapore government doesn't provide them for free to all AIDS patients because they are considered non-standard drugs.

But the road isn't closed.

The anti-retro-viral drugs are known to reduce the mother-to-child transmission of the deadly virus during pregnancies.

Dr Balaji says the State do provide when it comes to expectant mothers and their children.

"All the women who are HIV positive, who have to deliver children, have been given the medication because KK Hospital they have special funds that they collected through fund raising projects which they use to give these women so that they get their medication. Likewise, every child in Singapore who has had HIV, all its treatment has been paid for. What is more, KK has got some funds to help their parents. These children fall sick. ETC"

However, the greatest tragedy of it all is that after over two decades, males haven't learnt the prevention and cure for AIDS/HIV isn't too expensive, if they are intent on sowing their wild oats.

Feeling frisky? Got a dollar?

The condom is the surest way to avoid contracting AIDS at an average cost of 1 dollar apiece.

Tune in to the next installment as I look at the global AIDS pandemic.

This is Chong Ching Liang for Newsradio 938.

=========================
Related Websites:

Newsradio938
http://newsradio.mediacorpradio.com

Action for Aids
http://www.afa.org.sg

Ministry of Health, Singapore
http://www.moh.gov.sg
http://www.moh.gov.sg/corp/about/newsroom/speeches/details.do?id=29294601

World AIDS Conference 2004
http://www.aids2004.org/

United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS)
http://www.unaids.org/en/default.asp

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