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2001-08-26-HIV Carrier, Stigma Worse Than Disease
Seoul's Funding of AIDS Medication Wastes Money, Critics Aver
Jeong Jin says he felt as if he was hit over the head with a frying pan when a worker at a community health care center called to inform him in 1996 that he was HIV-positive. "It had been only a year since I became sexually active," the 32-year-old social worker said. After years of confusion over his sexual orientation, Mr. Jeong finally told himself in 1995 that he was gay and began to have a sexual relationship with another man. "He probably knew he was positive," Mr. Jeong said of his former partner whom he suspects transmitted the virus.
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Rather than wallowing in misery, however, Mr. Jeong thought about what he should do next. "I was pretty well informed about AIDS," he said. "So I wasn't afraid as far as my health was concerned." More agonizing than the physical consequences of his virus, according to Mr. Jeong, was the social stigma attached to AIDS.
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South Korea tends to be staunchly conservative when it comes to sexual ethics. Just a year ago, a female pop singer disappeared from the public eye after a videotape of her having sex with her former manager circulated on the Internet. A mention of AIDS would instantly wipe smiles off people's faces; it is still known as a gay disease. A high school civics textbook most recently revised in March 1999 teaches that "homosexuality causes AIDS and other side effects."
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As the number of people with the HIV virus steadily increases in Korea, advocates for AIDS patients argue there needs to be a change in perception about virus carriers and the epidemic as a whole. As of July, there were 1,520 people with H.I.V. in Korea. The number may seem small compared with 800,000 to 900,000 in the United States or the situation in Botswana, where 36 percent of the population is infected. But the number is rising rapidly here. There were 81 newly-infected people in July alone and 240 were infected since the beginning of the year, 21 more than the number for the entire year last year.
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The Korea Anti-AIDS Federation and K-pluss, an organization of people with HIV, regularly visit schools, prisons and military to promote understanding and awareness of AIDS. In presentations featuring infected people, the group emphasizes how important it is to stay away both from reckless sexual behavior and from prejudices against virus carriers. "Most of the audience is shocked to see a carrier," an activist said. "We provide them opportunities to see that HIV carriers are just like them."
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The advocates also say the government policy toward AIDS should be revised to deal with the changing nature of the disease. Ever since the first case of HIV infection was detected in Korea in 1985, the Korean government has strictly monitored the lives of people with HIV. The carriers have to register their real names with the government, but are then eligible for 100 percent funding for their medications. The government then asks by phone every three months questions about where they live and their lifestyle.
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This needs to change, according to Kwon Kwan-woo, director-general of the Korea Anti-AIDS Federation. "To use the money more efficiently," he said, "the government needs to focus its efforts on the poor and allow those who are more well-to-do to take care of themselves on their own." Mr. Kwon said organizations like his own could play a greater role in directing private funding to the needy and providing counseling to all patients.
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But Lee Jong-gu, an official at the National Institute of Health was skeptical about the proposal, saying, "The government could not dole out money to faceless individuals."
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Despite all the problems, AIDS in Korea appears highly preventable with proper education and precaution. Some 97 percent of people with HIV contracted the virus through sexual contacts: 311 heterosexual contacts abroad, 523 heterosexual contacts in Korea and 333 homosexual contacts. Just two of the carriers were intravenous drug abusers, a group that makes up a large proportion of HIV carriers in other countries.
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There have been no reports of persons acquiring HIV through blood transfusions since the mid-1990s.
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"The disease has now become controllable, like diabetes," an activist said. "But since there are no vaccines, carriers and non-carriers alike should exercise caution when engaging in sexual acts."
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by Park Sung-woo
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