World AIDS Day, 2005

December 1st is International AIDS day. It is more than twenty years since the disease was identified but it continues to wreak havoc. KS takes in the current situation and checks in for testing.

Eight thousand lives are taken every day by AIDS. Most of these could be prevented. HIV, the Human Immuno-deficiency Virus that causes AIDS, is creating one of the biggest social, economic and health crises in the world. So on December 1st, people all over the world show their support for the fight against AIDS by wearing a red ribbon.

The first International AIDS Day was designated in January, 1988 after a health minister's summit in London. Since this day, there have been many small victories in the battle against AIDS. Anti-HIV drugs have been deve-loped to delay the damage caused by the virus, informa-tion about AIDS prevention is more accessible, and there is even hope for a cure. Andrew Stimpson, a British man diagnosed as HIV positive in 2002, was found to be HIV negative in October 2003 — the key to finding an HIV vaccine could lie in Stimpson's immune system.

But there is still work to be done. HIV rates are increasing in Eastern Europe and Eastern and Central Asia. While it would be impossible to say exactly why rates are going up each year, Caitlin Stronell, a volunteer at Tokyo's Japan HIV Centre, offers an explanation.

"It [the increases] may be driven by intravenous drug use. Many Asian countries have extremely strict drug laws, which pushes the drugs underground, where people are more susceptible to sharing unsafe needles."

Stephan, a volunteer at Osaka's Japan HIV Centre, agrees with this theory and offers one of his own. "Not a lot of people are going in voluntary to get tested. There is still this stigma about AIDS here in Japan, so many people are afraid to take the test."
But the only thing worst than having positive results is not knowing whether you have the virus. There are many HIV/AIDS resources in Kansai and support is available for anyone who needs help.

Free Aids testing in Osaka

• America-mura yellow triangle building 4F, across from Triangle Park, every Sunday, 3-4pm. For map: http://www.hivkensa.com/index.html
You get the results in two hours and the testing is anonymous. There is usually at least one English-speaking doctor on site and there is counseling available on site as well. You can also purchase your AIDS ribbon here.

Kobe, Kyoto, Nara, Osaka
• Every city has a hokenjo, a public health centre, which offers free AIDS testing. Hokenjos may not always have English speaking staff on site though, and the testing may only be done on designated days. For a list of testing sites, times and maps, please go to: http://www.hivkensa.com/index.html
• The Japan HIV Centre in Osaka offers confidential counseling and information about HIV and AIDS, as well as a Gay and Lesbian hotline.
• JHC Hotline Osaka: 06-6882-0282 (Saturdays 12noon-3pm for English and Japanese counseling, Sundays 1pm-6pm for Japanese counseling only)
• JHC Hotline Tokyo: 03-5259-0256 (Saturdays 12noon-3pm for English counseling, Mon-Fri. 9am-9pm for Japanese counseling only)

HIV marches on

• 40 million people living with HIV worldwide (2.2m children)
• 5 million people newly infected with HIV in 2004
• 700,000 people currently receive anti-HIV drugs in developing countries
• 90% of people living with HIV are in developing countries
• HIV is increasing fastest in East Asia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia
• Only 12% of people needing anti-HIV drugs in developing countries receive them
• Anti-HIV drugs cost on average US$300 per person per year
• 3 million people died of AIDS in 2003
• Over 20 million total AIDS deaths to date

You can get HIV in four ways

• Unprotected sexual intercourse with an infected partner (the most common)
• Sharing needles or other contaminated injection or skin-piercing equipment;
• Blood and blood products through, for example, infected transfusions and organ or tissue transplants;
• Transmission from infected mother to child in the womb or at birth and breastfeeding.
http://www.worldaidsday.org/about_global.asp

Text: Antoinette Sarpong