By Tenzin Monlam
DHARAMSHALA, February 4: The Health Minister (Kalon) Dr. Tsering Wangchuk urged Tibetans to protect themselves from HIV AIDS and treat people with this illness with compassion, respect and dignity, ahead of the launch of Tibetan language HIV education materials.
In association with the Stanford-based TeachAIDS, the Tibetan language HIV education animations will be launched during the Tibetan Losar (New Year). The minister urged Tibetans around the world to learn from the TeachAIDS materials and share the knowledge with others.
“We are strong and resourceful people. We have resisted many threats to our language, culture and heritage. One threat for which we haven’t, until now, had the tools to resist is the growing risk of HIV in our community. There is no cure, but with the right knowledge we can prevent HIV,” he said in a video message on TeachAIDS website.
He said that taking necessary steps to prevent the deadly disease from spreading is the ‘most important action’ in protecting the community.
The minister urged the Tibetans to draw on the compassion that highlights the Tibetan culture by treating the people living with HIV with care and respect. He said, “We are a dignified people. HIV and AIDS must not change the way we relate to one another.”
According to the 2009 demographic survey by the Tibetan government in exile, AIDS is among the top 15 leading causes of death. Choice HIV/AIDS Initiative, now closed down, in their ‘Executive Report 2007-2013’ mentioned that the statistics only include the known cases and the number of individuals who are actually infected or die silently each year is unknown and likely to be much higher.
The Department of Health confirmed that there are around 60 HIV patients that they are in contact with. However, the actual count is still not clear since many prefer to undergo treatment privately. According to Choice HIV/AIDS, more than 100 known cases have been registered, with the death toll of Tibetans from AIDS estimated running into double digits in a year.
