They are Human

By Mohamed Ali Al Shabaan

Editor’s Note: This speech won a prize at last year’s Speaking Contest.

Having to go through life with shame and disgrace… Facing judgment and criticism from all living domains.. Denied their very basic needs of survival.. Deprived of leading normal and happy lives.. Stereotyped and treated with condescension.. All this while living in utter anxiety and restlessness. That description, ladies and gentleman, would perfectly go with the aftermath of a fictional catastrophe, an excessively dramatic movie, or maybe perhaps a very melancholic piece of writing. However, dear friends, fiction is far from the case here. I am sad to say that that description is nothing but consummate truth and reality. Those words are nothing but the reflection of the lives led by HIV positive patients in our society.. They are discriminated against, marginalized, alienated, and stigmatized in every way possible. And that, fellow students, has to stop!! And it may, if you and I, in our capacity of being future physicians, work hand-in-hand towards sustaining equality.

Ladies and gentleman, the director of the Pan America Health organization, Dr. Mirta Roses, once said: “HIV/AIDS has become the biggest threat to human survival…but the most harmful effect of the epidemic is the discrimination against the people who live with the virus.” That discrimination, fellow colleagues, could take obscene, despicable forms.. HIV positive patients have been denied jobs, barred from entering schools, shunned by family, colleagues, and friends, and worst of all, have been forbidden necessary treatment.

You might argue, dear friends, that this reaction is merely a response depicting normal human nature towards a disease that is transmissible, incurable, and potentially deadly! If this was said to me two decades ago, before I was even born, I would have agreed without question.. But, ladies and gentleman, our knowledge of the disease from that period has definitely evolved. Don’t get me wrong, I am still TERRIFIED of the virus— no matter the level of awareness and the amount of research that has made it crystal clear how the virus is transmitted. Direct contact, using the same toilets, drinking from the same cups, all these actions, do NOT transmit the virus.. and we all know that. However, discrimination still persists.

Fellow medics, I would argue that such segregation is due more to societal disdain towards the initial groups in which the disease was discovered rather than the fear of the virus itself. All the contempt against sex workers, drug addicts, and homosexuals has been pooled in as discrimination towards HIV patients in general.

Future physicians, I can see many different faces present tonight. Some of you are in your last year of medicine, others are in their fifth, some in the fourth and so on. In a few years, dear colleagues, we'll be swearing our oaths. In the face of God, our professors, our parent, our friends and our colleagues we’ll be repeating these very words: “I solemnly pledge myself to consecrate my life to the service of humanity.. I will not permit considerations of religion, nationality, race, party politics, or social standing to intervene between my duty and my patient”.. Yes, fellow students, we out of all people in this society, should heap scorn upon such alienation. Whether patients are HIV positive or negative does not strip them of their humanity.. Whether they’ve acquired it through excessive unprotected sex, drug abuse, or any other form of societal taboo does not undermine their rights to be treated as fellow human beings. Ladies and gentleman, believe it or not, HIV positive individuals ARE human.

Dear medics, you might be sitting there right now saying: “What’s this guy talking about.. I am but a student, what can I possibly do to change this?” Believe me when I say, you are underestimating your share in stopping this problem. Dear colleagues, we, as future physicians, are looked up to in society. We can utilize student governments, the media, public opinion, our writing capabilities, unions, campaigns and many more actions that would take a minute segment of our time and energy but will have a profound effect on the crisis at hand.

Ladies and gentleman, I would like to conclude with the UN’s Secretary General Kufi Anan’s saying: “As medical students committed to share your knowledge and skills internationally, you are a powerful source of hope for the future”.. Yes, fellow students, it is our duty to light and maintain the candle of hope; let’s work together towards that objective starting from right here and right now!!

Thank you