This morning I listened to a piece on Radio 4 about a new drug which reduces the liklihood of HIV being passed on (the detail isn't important for this blog post).
The expert said that ideally the person in the relationship who was HIV+ would take it, and this would not only prevent them passing it on to their partner, but would increase their lifespan as well. "However," he added, "the partner could take the drug. For instance in the situation where a husband is HIV+, but refuses to talk about it, won't wear a condom and won't take a drug, then the wife could take it to help prevent her contracting HIV."
Whoa, hold on a moment. The husband cares so little for his wife that he won't even wear a condom to prevent her getting HIV??
In that 'situation' I think I'd be questionning the whole relationship, not worrying about who takes the drug.
I agree with you but after living in Thailand I can see the benefit of the wife being able to take it too. Many Thai men have Mai Noi which translates as 'minor wives' (i.e a Mistress on the side) and they regularly visit brothels. This is frowned upon in polite society but those that frown upon it in some circles are usually dabbling when in others....happens all the time. The husbands often won't admit that they play away (or even that there is a chance they may have or get HIV) so the fact that the wives can take the precaution is a good thing. I did a paper on HIV in Thailand when looking at issues in contemporary health policy at Uni and the stats showed an alarming rise of HIV/AIDS in the middle classes. Being able to take the drug gives the wives some power to protect themselves in a world where losing face means more than losing a life!
ReplyDeleteC x
cultures and norms....sigh
ReplyDeletemakes you think though