Use all means to stop HIV/AIDS infection

 I REFER to the letter from Tumba Bilnem (The National, Dec 4) titled, “Stop portraying our women as sex objects” which was in response to a picture of Grace Beno appearing on the front page of the newspaper on World AIDS Day in a an attractive and demure dress with condoms pinned to it.  

Clearly it is not only “beauty that is in the eye of the beholder”.  

When I saw this picture last week I felt like congratulating Grace for her courage in appearing on the front page of The National. 

What I saw was a courageous young woman with a social conscience, and willing to stand up and show how HIV transmission can be prevented in our country.  

What Tumba Bilnem saw was a “sex object”.

We don’t need Tumba Bilnem to tell us that the best way to prevent HIV transmission is not to have sex.  But at the same time we need to understand that the world is not a perfect place. 

If it was then there would have been no need for Jesus to come and help us to find the path to salvation. 

After all, the Old Testament was there for thousands of years before the incarnation of Christ.  People who say things like, “AIDS is God’s punishment so that mankind can stop this immoral behavior”, don’t seem to have caught up to the New Testament which is all about repentance and forgiveness.  

Not once does Jesus threaten mankind with illness as God’s punishment like Tumba Bilnem does.

As a doctor looking after people with HIV infections for over 20 years now, I see that the people who are infected mostly have become so through no particular fault of their own.  Tumba Bilnem implies that HIV transmission will stop if we follow his preaching “unless you are married, don’t have sex”.  

So what about all the married women I see in the antenatal clinic who have HIV because their husbands have given it to them.  Better the husband had not strayed, but second best surely that he had used a condom rather than giving his wife (and baby) HIV. 

And what about the babies that are infected, does Tumba Bilnem believe they are also deserve punishment by God?    

Lastly with regards pre-marital sex, my research shows that about 90% of married people in PNG did not have their first sex with the person they are currently married to. 

By denying people the use of condoms, this puts 90% of the population of our country at risk of HIV and other STIs. And more than 50% of young women report that they did not really want to have sex the first time it happened. 

It is better that young women should at least be able to negotiate condom use under such circumstances. At least condoms give us a second chance, to avoid a deadly virus until we can find the right relationship and attain the perfect state that Tumba Bilnem has achieved. 

Let’s prevent HIV transmission by all possible means until we can build our perfect PNG and stop slanging off at sincere people who are doing their best to help the victims.  

Professor Glen Mola

Port Moresby