R.

age

Star2, TueSday 3 december 2013

Everyone
and you
By SHARMILA NAIR
alltherage@thestar.com.my

IZAL (not his real name) has been

sexually active since he was 19. He
has had multiple partners and it was
only two years ago that he learned about
the condom and its use in preventing sexually transmitted diseases. By then, he had
already been diagnosed as HIV positive.
I have seen condom packages on sale
and wondered how they were used, but I
didnt think that I would be needing them
for my lifestyle. The possibility of contracting HIV was the last thing on my mind,
said 33-year-old Rizal who was diagnosed
with the virus in 2011.
And the only reason Rizal even took the
HIV test was because a doctor suggested it
after his chronic bouts of cough continued
for several months. Otherwise, he would not
have even considered it.
I thought that I had tuberculosis but the
doctor had different news for me. He told
me I was HIV positive and I couldnt believe
it. I didnt think that it would
affect someone like me
a regular joe, said Rizal
who is currently a facilitator with PT Foundation,
a community based nonprofit making organisation providing HIV/AIDS
education and support
programmes.
Despite accepting his
current condition, Rizal wishes
that he had known more about
HIV/AIDS when he was younger and

young people should

realise that HIV/aIdS
doesnt discriminate
and they too are
susceptible to the
disease.

believes that perhaps adequate knowledge

on the subject would have prevented him
from contracting the virus.
In school, I learned about the reproductive systems and little bit on HIV. What they
didnt tell me was that it could happen to
anyone ... that it could happen to me, he
said.
According to the statistics provided
by the Ministry of Health, the number of
people living with HIV (PLHIV) in Malaysia
last year was estimated at 81,209. In 2012,
3,438 new cases were reported and 31% of
the new infections happened to those aged
13 to 29.
One of the main reasons for the increase
in new HIV cases is a lack of awareness on
the topic, despite the disease being discussed for over 30 years now.
There is a growing perception among
youths that HIV/AIDS will never happen to
them. They are becoming increasingly noncommunicative on the subject and
this silence can hamper outreach

Silence kills: World aIdS day provides a platform to encourage important conversations not only
about HIV/aIdS, but also the discrimination of people living with the infection, and safe sex education.
efforts to raise awareness on the issue,
said PT Foundation acting executive officer
Raymond Tai.
He added that more often than not, it is
only when a person is infected, or affected,
that he or she starts educating themselves
on the issue.
But the education should begin earlier
and it should be on-going, to prevent one
being infected or affected in the first place,
said Tai.

the misconception, Durex Malaysia, in

partnership with PT Foundation and AIESEC
Malaysia, has launched #SomebodyLikeMe
a social media campaign aimed at encouraging and normalising HIV/AIDS-related
conversations as well as empowering
youths to make a stand towards a HIV/AIDSfree society.
Despite the alarming figures, it is disconcerting to note that many young people are
not equipped with sufficient knowledge and
feel that HIV/AIDS is irrelevant to them.
#SomebodyLikeMe seeks to challenge
and rebut these presumptions as HIV/AIDS
does not discriminate and can infect or
affect anyone, including someone like me,
said Reckitt Benckiser Malaysia & Singapore
marketing director Abhishek Chuckarbutty.
The campaign has enlisted several prominent social influencers to share their voice
and stories online to spark the conversations online as well as to ignite change.
Among the local social media influencers
who have lent their support to the campaign are Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir,
Niki Cheong, Joe Lee (aka KlubbKidd KL),
Karena Cheow, Audrey Pui Yan, Hanie
Hidayah and Christopher Tock.
Digital media consultant Niki Cheong
said: HIV/AIDS is preventable, yet
even after all this time we have been
unable to reverse the number of
infections in most parts of the world.
When it comes to sex which is the
core part of the message of this World
AIDS Day campaign there are still
many cases where people are ignorant, complacent or worse, dont
really care.
In Malaysia, in particular,we
dont have sex education in schools
and so, we need to have effective
campaigns to spread awareness on
the HIV/AIDS issue.
The social influencers have already
started the all-important conversation online, actively communicating on
social media with their followers about
issues surrounding HIV/AIDS using
the hashtag #SomebodyLikeMe and
engaging them to speak freely about it
with their own peers.

Reaching out to youths

Alarmingly, 129 youths below the age of

19 were infected with the virus last year in
Malaysia. They are now part of the estimated 34 million people living with HIV around
the world. It is also unnerving to note that
AIDS has become the second most common
cause of death among 20- to 24-year-olds
worldwide.
The biggest misconception about HIV/
AIDS is that most young people think
Writer/blogger
that it only happens to other people.
Joe Lee, aka
We call this the Not-MeKlubbKidd KL.
Syndrome, said Tai.
In a bid to disprove

digital media
consultant
Niki cheong.

datin Paduka
marina mahathir

ANN MARIE
CHANDY

IVY SOON

IAN YEE

PAUL YEO

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DZIREENA MAHADZIR

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