south and south east asia

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The following stories were contributed to our website. Please note that they have not been edited and presented the way they were received.

I am now 40 years old. Eight years ago I had to stop working because I was very sick and could not continue to work. It was unlike any sickness I had before. I was told to get tested for HIV and I was terrified. The results came out positive. I felt like my whole world was crumbling down. I had a wife and a 5 year old girl. My wife decided to leave me, but my mother stood by me. I was told that I needed to get 3 tablets to make me feel better. It was beyond my ability to pay for these tablets. My mother was frightened at the thought of me dying before her. I was growing weak day after day. I was getting all sorts of illnesses because my body became very weak. Six years later, I was fortunate to be able to take the 3 tablets called triple therapy. It was amazing, how it helped. I am feeling a lot better now and stronger.. I have been one of the more fortunate ones to be able to get the medicines even though it took me years to get them. I have seen people die because they could not afford the medicines. Even people in the medium to high income family could not afford a continuous supply of the medicine. Thailand would not have lost so many lives to AIDS if the medicine was easy to get. Every day, I pray to God that we find a cure to this disease quickly.

- Anonymous, Thailand

I got the HIV virus by blood transfusion. After several days of feeling sick, my parents forced me to take the test. It took me 17 months to get the test results back. When the results did arrive, I had tested positive. In Iran , there is a lot of taboo over this topic of HIV/AIDS. Even in developed areas people don't understand how you can get infected. I once shared an elevator with another person. We were both going to the third floor. I told him I had AIDS. He got off at the next level. They think that you can get it by being around people who have the virus.

- Zia, Teheran, Iran.

I am a 53 year old mother of two. My husband dies a few years ago from AIDS. When he was overseas he received a blood transfusion during an emergency medical situation. This was in early 1980s. There was so much confusion over what AIDS was, whether HIV actually caused the virus and so on and on. It was too late when my husband was diagnosed. This was considered a disease that only affected foreign countries, not people in Pakistan . Our family is very religious and never did anything that we knew was wrong. But the blood transfusion brought the infection into our family. After my husband's death I was tested for HIV. Needless to say. I tested positive. I did not think my children needed to be tested, but I did it anyways for peace of mind. And thankfully, they tested negative. I am taking several medicines daily to keep me healthy, but it is not easy to afford them. They are very expensive even though I get the generic medicine. But I take them daily because if something happened to me I am worried about my children. I am lucky that I can somehow manage to get the medicines and keep my family running. This is not the case for all Pakistanis. It is even worse in other countries. I still have not told anyone except my very close family that I am HIV positive. I am worried about how my children will be treated if the other students find out that I am HIV positive. My children do not know that I am HIV positive. The amount of discrimination a HIV positive person is subjected to in Pakistan is beyond comprehension. I did not contract this disease because of promiscuity. But that is the first thought that crosses everyone's mind.

- Alone in Pakistan.

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