“HIV A Punishment From God” Says Perlis Medical Officer Before Getting Crucified Online
HIV is not a death sentence and with proper care people can live long healthy lives.
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“Inaccurate and unnecessary,” was the opinion conveyed by netizens when they flagged a local doctor’s assistant in Perlis for posting content discriminating against HIV patients on TikTok.
Videos circulating online show a man identified as Mohd Izham, who’s said to be an assistant medical officer at the Kuala Perlis government health clinic, telling a story about a patient that came in to be treated for venereal disease.
“It’s either one of three things, HIV, syphilis or gonorrhoea, so I ordered a blood test. When the results came, it confirmed that Azrul (not the patient’s real name) had HIV. HIV positive boh,” said Mohd Izham in the clip and described how the patient was beyond shocked when receiving the news.
Besides explaining in explicit detail the condition of his patient’s genitals, the assistant made rather insensitive claims that HIV, or the human immunodeficiency virus, was created by God as punishment for adulterers.
“Why did God created HIV? It’s to punish adulterers and immoral people. God made no cure for HIV boh,” he said while preaching for people to stop sinning.
The assistant later went on to describe how safe sex practices, like wearing condoms, had no effect at preventing someone from getting HIV if God wanted them to get it.
It’s not just you who would be ashamed, your parents and family will be embarrassed.
Mohd Izham via TikTok/Twitter
Sambungan.
— Indra (@ardnie) September 28, 2021
Nasihat aku, kalau memang dah ada simptom sebarang penyakit kelamin, pegi cepat jumpa doktor.
Dan kalau boleh, spend sikit duit, pegi buat test STD kat private lab. Few hours (2 jam ke 1/2 hari biasanya) akan dpt result. pic.twitter.com/hfHvRJhzPn
Mohd Izham’s TikTok account where he posted the video has apparently now been deactivated.
Obviously, the video invited criticism from Malaysians online who say that the information provided by the medical officer was both inaccurate and prejudice towards HIV patients.
Sebuah video TikTok yang telah dirakamkan oleh seorang pekerja kesihatan (Health Care Worker) di utara Malaysia telah menyebarkan maklumat yang tidak tepat dan menambahkan stigma dan diskriminasi terhadap orang yang hidup dengan HIV.
— Malaysian AIDS Council (@myAIDScouncil) September 29, 2021
1/4 pic.twitter.com/i6lg2Sx0JL
First, let’s put out the facts
HIV is a virus that attacks the body’s immune system, making a person more susceptible to other diseases.
There is currently no effective cure against the virus and once a person is infected, they have it for life, and the only sure way to know if a person has it is to get tested.
HIV can be transmitted to other people via the exchange of bodily fluids such as blood, semen, vaginal secretions, and even breast milk. Mothers with HIV can also transmit the virus over to their children during pregnancy and birth.
There are three stages of HIV: acute, chronic and the final stage which is known as Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome or AIDS.
However, with proper and immediate medical care, HIV can be controlled to prevent a person from developing AIDS, and help people live long healthy lives.
With the right treatment, an HIV positive patient can suppress the virus enough that they themselves aren’t transmissive to spread the virus to others.
Of course, they say that prevention is always better than finding a cure, thus people are advised to take on practices like safe sex, among others.
Sexual assault victims are also advised to seek immediate medical attention, and there are medications like post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) that a person can take to prevent from getting HIV after recent exposure to the virus.
Overall, just like most earthly diseases inflicting mankind, HIV is not a death sentence.
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