Another Stressful Week...

Well, I am one week deeper into this course and the work keeps coming.... as to be expected though.  Last week was actually one of the more interesting weeks to me, I found the movies I watched to be very moving.  I picked "Silverlake Life", "Common Threads" and "The Age of AIDS" as my movie choices.  Honestly, I didn't think I was going to get much out of these videos, I really don't watch movies unless they are comedies:)  I found "Silverlake Life: The View From Here" to be especially sad.  It was filmed "home video" style making the content very intense to watch.  It depicted many things that were hard to watch: such as the main character Tim wither away to skin and bones.  One scene even cut from him talking to the camera in one scene ( in a very weakened condition) to the camera zoomed in on his dead body.  It was very disturbing.... 

For my country I chose the Philippines!  I managed to  find a whole section on the internet about HIV/AIDS laws on the internet.  Philippines  legislature states:

"Article 6 [edit]

Confidentiality will be protected on HIV status.

• All healthcare workers, and anyone handling health records will strictly preserve patient confidentiality on HIV status, and the identity of people with HIV.
• HIV status can be shared by health officials in three circumstances; officials of the AIDSWATCH council, Health workers who are involved in treatment and need to know for their own safety, and a judge if under subpoena for an official court case.
• HIV results may be given to the person tested, an official of the AIDSWATCH council, and a parent or guardian. It cannot be given to anyone else.
• Legal penalties can be provided for breaching confidentiality.
• People with HIV must inform spouses and sex partners as soon as reasonably possible."

They encourage individuals to tell spouses they are HIV positive, but I don't know how they could regulate this or punish this, as it is the person's option to choose the right time and place to tell them.  The prevalence of AIDS in the Philippines is very low at this point at time, but is on the rise.  Since it is such an isolated island, the numbers have been kept low.  

Did you know????

Less than 0.1% of the Filipino adult population is estimated to be HIV positive, compared to the .6% of the United States.  The figures may not seem that different, but considering that the U.S. has 3 times the population of the Philippines, it is an impressive statistic!

Until next week....

sources:

Adult Prevalence Rate.  2009.  Retrieved October 14, 2009 from Nation Master.  Taken from http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/hea_hiv_aid_adu_pre_rat-hiv-aids-adult-prevalence-rate

Summary of Philippine AIDS Law.  2009.  Retrieved October 14, 2009 from Wikiversity.  Taken from http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Summary_of_Philippine_AIDS_law