prejudice

HIV is no longer a fatal disease as long as you have access to proper medicine.  I thought all Japanese patients were treated before they progressed to AIDS but found out today during class that that was not true.  Many people in the province who think they are infected are hesitant to get checked because they are afraid that they would be ostracized.  If they go to the health center, they would most likely meet someone they know, and everything will spread over night.  They try to keep it a secret until things are too late.  It's really sad that there are so many medicines to save them and yet they can't get access because of prejudice.

On a side note, it is said that there are around 100,000 HIV patients in Japan.  It costs 200 million yen to treat a patient a lifetime.  They're all probably going to be able to afford it because Japan has medical insurance for the whole nation, but I wonder if the country can afford it, or even if it's fair...  I guess it's not only HIV; it's difficult to evaluate whether it was an individual's fault that he got a certain illness, and I'm not against the idea of insurance - everyone should have equal access to medicine, but I guess there's always that problem - moral hazard.  When it comes to health issues, I guess people already have the incentive to take care of themselves with or without insurance, but it does seem kind of odd to picture a workaholic who has no time for sex supporting a treatment of someone who got HIV because of a wild love life.

Now I realize this is exactly the kind of prejudice that has to be abolished.  Not everyone gets HIV because of repeated risky behavior.  It might've been me or my friend if we'd been unfortunate.  Some people may say they never ever take risks, but I personally prefer to live in a society tolerant to mistakes.