The HIV taboo: "No less in the Netherlands than in the Caribbean"



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Photo: Excerpt from the movie "Nothing died"

AMSTERDAM – The Movie To Nothing Deceased & # 39; was presented last week in the Netherlands. It is the first film of the actor born in Curaçao and director Raymi Sambo. With the film, Sambo also immediately touches a chord: the taboo on HIV, the virus that can eventually lead to AIDS without treatment.

By Natasja Gibbs

In Amsterdam all week at the International AIDS Conference scientists, policymakers, health professionals and activists from around the world. British Prince Harry, Princess Mabel and former President Bill Clinton are also present and show solidarity with the goal of having AIDS out of the world in 2030. With such an international event, we might think that HIV is no longer taboo in the Netherlands, but nothing is less true, "says Reina Foppen of the HIV Association in the Netherlands

" The taboo on the HIV is not typical of the Netherlands. The Caribbean Islands, I see it on all the islands, also on Texel "

" More than fifty percent of HIV-positive Dutch people are seriously disturbed by the stigma that still weighs on this now-chronic disease, "says Foppen, who himself almost thirty years living with HIV. "For example, parents who do not want their child to play with a child who has HIV. We have made far too little progress in this regard in relation to the enormous medical advances that have been made over the years. It's very sad. "

Foppen also sees a huge taboo on HIV in the Antillean part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands." But this is not something typical of the Caribbean islands, I see it on all the islands, also on Texel. It is this insular mentality of "we know each other". It goes so far that the Dutch living with HIV living in the Netherlands keep it so secret, fearing that it will flee their island and have consequences for the family. "

" Taking your medications gets harder if your environment does not know you have HIV "

But keeping the secret of HIV also has unpleasant consequences according to Foppen." If you have HIV You may become very old, but you must continue to take medication throughout your life to make sure that you continue to remove the virus.Then you can have healthy children and you can not transmit HIV. to your sexual partner Taking your medications faithfully only becomes more difficult if your environment does not know you have HIV I know people who, out of shame or guilt, even hide from their partner that they have HIV and that they hide their drugs in the shed or in their work bag. "

According to Foppen, concealing HIV for the environment does not only make the taking of drugs, but also on the well-being "Research has shown that people who can speak openly about their HIV status are also better able to cope with negative reactions and are also happier, and their immediate environment is essential for this emotional protection."

"Thanks you can grow old with HIV and have healthy children too many people still do not know that "

Foppen sees a long way to go regarding the acceptance of people living with the disease. HIV in society. "It always starts with giving information and repeating that you can not have HIV playing with each other, a toilet seat or a mosquito." The HIV Association also offers individual counseling and workshops for newly diagnosed people. received and always with a lot of fears or questions. This mutual contact is often a great support and it helps tremendously with the acceptance. The association argues that these forms of support should be an integral part of specialized health care.

"But you have to share more good news," says Foppen, "Thanks to HIV medications, you can become old and safe from HIV transmission and have healthy children. Too many people still do not know it. "

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