The Media's Perception of HIV

By Mohammad Shakir

There has been a major shift in the way the media perceive and report cases of HIV since its discovery in the 1980’s.

In the early 80’s HIV was met with fear due to the lack of information about the condition. Later in the decade celebrities such Freddie Mercury and Rock Hudson disclosed to the public that they were living with HIV. The creation of World AIDS Day brought a great swell in promotion about the realities of HIV/AIDS. Celebrities such as the late Dame Elizabeth Taylor setting up an AIDS foundation helped raise the profile.

The 90’s saw the US government and the United Nations put emphasis on finding a cure for HIV/AIDS and the first vaccine trials on humans take place. The past decade has seen a focus shift to Africa and Asia where HIV is most rife. More and more stories about how people are living with HIV have shown that with the right medication HIV can be kept under control and can help people live a relatively normal life.

The way both the media cover HIV related issues and the public receive them have changed from a perception fear and misunderstanding to one of where the world has begun to understand HIV and its effects. In essence HIV has become a global story with regular stories optimistic about finding a HIV vaccine or a reduction in the number of transmissions in the most affected areas.

(Research cited Southern Illinois University School of Medicine and the Australian Studies in Journalism)

Chinese HIV/AIDS sufferers denied medical treatment

By Mohammad Shakir

Reuters reported yesterday that HIV/AIDS sufferers in China are being denied the medical services that they require.

According to the United Nations nearly three quarters of a million people are suffering from HIV in China. The taboos surrounding sex and HIV are strife in the country and have led to discrimination from healthcare workers.

The government’s policy is to treat HIV sufferers in with in designated hospitals which has come under criticism from Zhang Ke, deputy director of the infectious disease department of the Beijing You An Hospital.

It looks as if clearer education about HIV and more compassion for people living with HIV is required in China. Let’s hope that the Chinese government can show some compassion and ensure that the 740,000 people living with HIV can get the help that they so desperately require.

Photo Credit: Reuters

HIV... You're Fired!

 By Mohammad Shakir

It’s the one phrase that most people don’t want to hear in their daily lives, but one phrase we are trying to say to HIV. We want to stop HIV working to spread and destroy lives.

HIV changes lives in the most abhorrent ways, mentally and physically. It destroys a body’s healthy cells especially ones that fight infections such as white blood cells and antibodies and leads to AIDS.

There are over 33 million people affected by HIV globally. This doesn’t include the number of people such as children who sometimes have to care for their parents who suffer from HIV. 

HIV creates orphans and widows, robs a child of a childhood and takes lives. Together we can work harder to say “you’re fired” to HIV.

The Princess and the Hat (By Fatima Zahra Khanum)

Anyone who watched the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge last week will know that much attention has been given to Princess Beatrice,  the daughter of Prince Andrew, who wore a less than traditional fascinator for the ceremony.

The hat has come under intense scrutiny and even led to what has now become a 130,000 strong anti-fascinator Facebook group..!

It is however always good to be different :)  It certainly brings a new dimension to life. If everything were the same, life would be pretty boring, I think!

Hats off to Beatrice also who, unknown to many, is an active member of the community and has since her teens been involved in many charity initiatives, helping those in need.

The charity world relies on innovative ideas to address developmental issues, therefore being different encourages the flow of creativity and brings forth new solutions. Likewise, being different in everyday life allows for one to paint the landscape of life to its fullest capacity.  

Over and out  J

Impartiality - To be or not to be! (By Dr Hany El-Banna)

Partial or Impartial.

To be or not to be.

Partial could mean that I am a part of some group, some club, some family, or something else altogether. So, I carry the opinions of such groups and I advocate for it as my interest because it is the interest of my group. My product would become the success of my group and this is not wrong, it is a part of the life, of man, and we should not be feeling ashamed of it because this is how we love having been created by God in this way. So we protect our smaller societies, families, and neighbourhoods. But what do we mean by being impartial? The ‘I’M’ will neither take me to this partial nor to that partial. Impartiality means the pendulum which can keep both sides of the scale of justice just.

Impartiality is how to control your emotion when you treat a savage wounded enemy or feed the people who need help yet are fighting against you, or treat the enemies of war with love and respect, or give back the right of your enemies to them.

Impartiality means containing your personal and emotional anger towards the murderers because you are looking for the common good of the larger community.

Impartiality makes you feel that you are part of both partials.

Impartiality also means truth is the winning factor which caves out on top of transparency and openness. It is difficult to act impartially because we are made from many parts which could partial us to the right or to the left but it is a duty incumbent on our humanitarian values to act impartially and justly with all communities, particularly in conflict.

Complement-ality

Complement-ality is acknowledging the value of the added value that each and every one of us can bring to the discussion table. 

It is the understanding that we can do it alone, which is nothing to be ashamed of. It means saving money, time, and effort while having our diverse effective solutions delivered to the community.

Complement-ality is a cross-fertilisation of thoughts, ideologies, dreams, visions, and objectives. This process of cross-fertilisation will enable complement-ality to produce long lasting community solutions.

Complement-ality is a defence mechanism that protects the meaning of true infrastructure of the social fabric of our societies to effectively protect its faith, value, culture, and resources.

Complement-ality is the way forward for a faster, more effective developmental growth of any society.

Complement-ality is the easiest way for laying down the foundations of any civilisation.

Another way to look at complement-ality is like a jigsaw puzzle. Each piece needs each other to complete the puzzle; each piece complements each other and collectively they result in the completion or solution.

Complement-ality is another never ending story that humanity started before the creation of man where every creation of God was complementing the role of another creation, knowingly or unknowingly.

In humanity’s complement-ality cycle, we as creations of God are playing individually and collectively a very effective role of keeping humanity proceeding through its discourse.

I will be with you in Impartiality.

Inclusivity

Over the next few days, our chairman Dr Hany El-Banna will be discussing at the themes Inclusivity, Compliment-ality and Impartiality. 

For me, inclusivity means no doors, no locks, and no key chains. Inclusivity means open participation of the people concerned with the discussed issue. It means no pre-set agenda for discussion. The agenda should be drawn by the participants as a respond to the needs of their community.

Inclusivity is a tool, a bridge, or a vehicle that enables us to cross to both sides, delivering a very well, read, heard, and understood message.

It has neither a hierarchy nor grassroots; it is both. Creating inclusivity should be needs driven and not fund driven. Inclusivity needs us as participants to have crystal clear intentions reflecting our transparent objectives. Inclusivity is not about lobbying, manoeuvring, or twisting peoples’ arms but rather about discussing, engaging and convincing.

Inclusivity is about ‘US’ which include all the WE’s and the I’s, so the big ‘US’ means that we agree on a commonly shared value which can include all of US, because we are all equal, partners, shareholders, and owners of our ideas and dreams. Inclusivity is not about a religion, a sect, a race, history, culture, language, or a vision but inclusivity is about all of these and more.

Inclusivity does not believe in borders, visas, barriers or walls. We should all ask ourselves this question “Are we inclusive in our approach of finding a solution to our own issues?”

I’ll leave it to you to answer this it and see you when I discuss ‘Compliment-ality’.