Hey everyone,
This week has been a stressful one so far and today especially wasn't a good one! I just heard about the bomb threat in UCF, my sister and friend were stuck there for three hours waiting on their cars because both garages (H and A) were closed! It's really sad to know that we're not even safe in our school anymore!
Anyways, let me tell you guys about how much I liked the M&Ms Project; I think it was a very different assignment and a great idea that brought me closer in realizing what it is really like to be living with HIV and managing 20 pills a day and suffering from their side effects! I don't know about you guys, but I had a hard time remembering all 20 pills everyday. I also chocked on the big M&M with peanuts! That was no fun. I can only imagine how hard it is to have to go through that for the rest of my life, not just seven days like we had to for this class!
I am going to attend the Men's Panel on the 18th of this month and I am excited to go and meet people who actually know what it's like to live with HIV. I also watched the movie Philadelphia for the extra credit assignment and it was a really good one that showed how to characters fought for the right for a HIV+ person to live a normal life just like everyone else. This actually brings me to the QOTW; I really think having a discriminating law against HIV+ people enforced in the U.S is the worst idea ever! I believe that it's everyone's right to live a normal life with full freedom regardless of their health issues. After all, this is a free country!!!
Did you know?
According to NewKerala.com, a study in David Geffen School of Medicine and University of California Los Angeles, showed that HIV positive people who experience stigma have less access to healthcare and are less adherent to Antiretroviral Therapy than the ones who are not stigmatized!
"We were surprised to find that in our models, experiencing high levels of internalised HIV stigma was one of the strongest predictors of poor access to medical care, even after controlling for gender, race and ethnicity, income, insurance, since HIV diagnosis," said lead study investigator Jennifer Sayles, assistant professor of medicine at the DGSM.
Reference:
Fear of stigma likely to cut off HIV patients from healthcare. Retrieved November 11, 2009, from http://www.newkerala.com/nkfullnews-1-135817.html
