Woman's 12-year HIV nightmare finally ends

Young woman whose life was ruined by HIV diagnosis & discrimination when child is HIV free retesting shows.

HIV-AIDS & DISCRIMINATION

Woman's 12-year HIV nightmare finally ends

1/06/2017
Penchan Charoensuthipan

A young woman who suffered under discrimination that followed after being diagnosed with HIV as a child has finally been freed of her anguish.

She re- tested as negative for HIV at the Thai Red Cross Aids Research Centre (TRC-ARC) on Thursday.

The young woman's story highlights the problem of widespread discrimination against people with HIV in Thailand based on false information and beliefs.

WHAT EXACTLY HAPPENED?

The young woman's HIV nightmare began when she was 8-years-old.

Her teachers took her for an HIV test at a hospital in Roi Et province because her mother had a severe allergy and her father had died of Aids.

The first test showed she was infected with the virus.

There was no second test to confirm the diagnosis.

She has been suffering anguish ever since that time.

HIV DIAGNOSIS THE BEGINNING OF DISCRIMINATION & ABUSE BY NEIGHBOURS 

The young woman said everybody, including neighbours and schoolmates, distanced themselves from her after her HIV diagnosis. 

After that she did not want to go to school.

"Finally I dropped out and grew up an uneducated person, although I dreamed of becoming a doctor," Ms Suthida said.

Later she married, and although she used contraception she fell pregnant.

She decided to keep the child, now aged 5 years.

When HIV tests on the newborn baby proved negative, she sought a fresh HIV test for herself.

It proved negative, so she stopped taking her HIV medication.

Even so, she continued to have doubts about her health.

FINALLY RETESTED WITH NEWER BETTER TEST

Eventually, a lawyer named Songkran Achariyasap brought her to Bangkok for re- testing at the Thai Red Cross centre.

Thursday's test result, confirmed that she was not infected and this has given her a new life, the young woman Ms. Suthida Saengsumat, 20 said.

Dr Praphan Phanuphak, the TRC-ARC director, told a news conference 30 minutes later she was free of HIV.

He confirmed the results of the two tests were consistent.

Ms Suthida then burst into tears.

She effusively thanked the doctors involved and said society should now stop discriminating against her because she was not an HIV-Aids sufferer.

Dr Praphan said modern day tests were much more accurate than they were many years ago, with an error rate of only 1 out of 1000.

MY CHILDREN WILL NOT HAVE TO HIDE NOW

"My children, from now on you will not have to be embarrassed or hide from others."

"We will live together again."

"We will never be apart anymore, because I do not have Aids," cried the mother of two children, aged 5 years and 1 year.

PROOF THAT THAI SOCIETY HAS LITTLE UNDERSTANDING OF HIV-AIDS

The case of Ms Suthida shows that Thai society has little understanding about HIV-Aids and regularly and unfairly discriminates against infected people.

These people can actually live normal lives like other people and contribute to society, the director of the Aids research centre said.

Dr Sombat Thanprasertsuk, of the Disease Control Department, said doctors were now concerned about the side effects of the HIV medication Ms Suthida had been taking since she was a child and until comparatively recently.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/1260602/womans-12-year-hiv-nightmare-finally-ends

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