HIV 2

My first post on this topic over two years ago, HIV (11-Nov-2008), has gotten a lot of attention. It's a hush-hush topic, after all, and not only in the UAE.

It reflects the immaturity that still exists in many places around the globe. It reflects certain cultural sensitivities, no doubt. Even in a more mature intellectual environment, like that of the US, one has to go around saying things like the N word. How funny and odd that must seem to people not immeshed in that culture.

The problem in the UAE is that HIV cannot even be talked about much less its sufferers being treated humanely. In my 10 plus years in the country I have never heard any office chatter on the topic. It isn't featured in the media and it isn't talked about among groups of casual friends, colleagues or acquaintances. It is the H word here.

Of course, it isn't the only thing that isn't talked about. This is a place where the Internet is heavily censored. Untouchable topics include things related to sexuality, religion, government and some aspects of economy and culture. This, of course, creates an environment where intellectual development is stymied.

Father Knows Best

Now some defend this sort of intellectual subversion--it protects children and the local culture. And the truth is that, even in so-called free and liberal societies, there are things one might say that make many people uncomfortable and can even get one into trouble with the enforces of the law.

Still, SEX, RELIGION, GOVERNMENT, ECONOMY, CULTURE--that is quite a big chunk of topics to take off the table. My mental faculties have certainly been dulled as a result. When there are so many things that one is not allowed to talk about, one eventually stops thinking about them. You eventually stop really thinking at all. That, I suppose, is exactly what the powers at be want--and perhaps many others in the society at large.

And so THEY HAVE WON this fight here in the UAE. We (long term expats like myself) survive and thrive in the UAE, only by turning off a part of our consciousness.

Papa Don't Preach

Now, Abu Dhabi wants to bring culture to the UAE ala the Louvre, the Guggenheim and all things great being planned for Saadiyat Island. But what culture is that really? One hardly has the freedom of thought in this land. A richer culture might emerge, if only the UAE would refrain from deporting or arresting individuals who dare to express views on the many untouchable topics.

HIV--the topic which is the point of this post, but I digress.

I do not think the situation for HIV sufferers... OK sufferers is a completely wrong word choice. (People with HIV--HIV positive status--don't suffer. They live their lives in complete normality if not harassed by government or others in society.) People in the UAE who have become infected with the virus, for whatever reason, still fare poorly--especially those who are non-nationals.

There is no confidential testing. One should take a flight, not only out of the country but completely out of the region, to get tested in order to avoid risk of arrest and/or deportation, or ostracism if one is a UAE national.

Every year that World AIDS Day rolls around we get a few articles in the newspapers addressing the topic with a few hopeful words about how the government is starting treatment or looking to protect the rights of HIV infected individuals. BUT WAIT, this only applies to the population of UAE nationals. It is still the dark ages or the Spanish Inquisition for anyone so identified among the expatriate population, which by some estimates makes up 90% of the UAE resident population.

So, no change in the HIV/AIDS situation here in the UAE for expatriates. No change, either, is likely to come, as long as one dare not even talk about the topic within any public setting.

The Bigger Picture

All things considered, what makes the UAE a livable environment and a place where many people, both local and expatriate, can survive well and even thrive are

1. a little bit of luck--luck not to be the one to get arrested at the airport for having a grain of narcotic dust on the sole of one's shoe, or a leftover poppy seed from a bun eaten at a transit airport's business lounge--and luck not to contract the HIV virus, whether through a very human error in judgement or circumstances completely beyond ones control, and
   
   
2. a, not only benevolent, but genuinely modern and forward-thinking rulership in the person of those sheikhs and families who rule the UAE.

You see, although it is those same powers that be who have implemented the zero tolerance edicts against alcohol, drugs and HIV (and these things are not ALL vices), they also do a pretty good job of creating a society where there is some distribution of wealth and general peace and tranquility. They cannot be faulted for that.

My one suggestion is to consider that the UAE is still a young nation, which has at least done a great job of providing the basics and spurring incredible economic development. I say, give it time, and the social development will follow. Maybe they've got it backwards in bringing over the Louvre and Guggenheim long before there is any true freedom of expression. But perhaps these things will hasten an eventual social, political and religious maturity.

While being diagnosed HIV positive is still a great tragedy for any individual in the UAE--and not because of the condition itself, but because of the inhumane treatment by the government--it is one of those risks in life that some people choose to live with. It is one of those risks that I have chosen to live with and, at the end of the day, I still choose the UAE, I still choose to live in and call Dubai home.

For further or more up-to-date info...

• scroll through comments below
• read through text and comments of an earlier post HIV
• note the USAID & FDA list of approved HIV Rapid Test Kits (source)

HIV

I suppose HIV status is passé for most of humankind unless one is or becomes a victim of the virus, or someone near or dear does. Fair enough. There are so many issues in life. Besides, HIV/AIDS basked in the spotlight of media and world attention in the 1980s and 90s. That is perhaps longer than a lot of other worthy issues have.

That said, it doesn't hurt to bring up the subject now and then as it remains a serious matter regardless of where it might be on the public's radar. In the UAE, in fact, it is not only a medical issue but a human rights one as well.

A scenario to consider... A person in the UAE goes in for medical screening (normally required when one applies for or renews a visa). The mandatory HIV screening shows up a posiitive--HIV+. This will automatically disqualify the person from receiving the visa or renewal. Department of Heath policy states,

HIV test is required for both new cases and visa renewal.
Test Interpretation: Positive result of the test will render the individual unfit to work in Dubai, U.A.E.

On the one level, so what? Why should a foreign applicant be granted a visa to live or work in the country when they are in some capacity not fit to do so? It is the prerogative of any country to admit who it pleases. Personally, I have no quarrels with this.

But what about in the case of visa renewal? In a country where perhaps as much as 90% of the resident population is foreign--non UAE passport holders--there are quite literally a million or more (of the total 5 million population) renewing visas and getting screened on an annual basis. Without researching the numbers, I would reasonably guess that a very large number of these renewals are for long-term resident expatriates.

Now, back to the scenario... Say, for example, a long-term resident has inadvertently and perhaps even unknowingly contracted the illness. Upon screening and being found HIV+, it isn't a case of simply being denied entry into the country. Instead, one is uprooted and expelled from the country. Regardless of what familial, financial and other commitments that person may have in the UAE, he/she is rather ruthlessly expelled.

There are stories of people being arrested at once and incarcerated, while immediate deportation proceedings are carried out. The person is hardly given the chance to make contact with family or loved ones much less make arrangements to relocate or settle their accounts--social, business, financial and otherwise.

Nightmare Scenario

Can you imagine! I don't think many take the time to think about what this must really be like. Ironically, it should make the impact of becoming aware that one is afflicted with this ailment seem almost trivial compared to the immediate trauma of being uprooted from one's life and livelihood.

That is where the question of human rights arises. If such stories are true, then it would mean that quite serious violations of human rights are occurring. I cannot even speculate on the number of cases there might be--if, again such stories are true. Sadly, for some, it would not even be a matter of repatriation, as there are among the expatriate population a percentage who were actually born here. To be forcibly deported from the country under such conditions would amount to forced banishment and exile from one's homeland.

My primary concern in this post is the human rights issue. But there is also a medical one, whereby such a draconian policy could in fact facilitate, rather than, impede the spread of HIV among the population. Just think about it--one may have reason to fear that he/she has contracted the virus. In most forward thinking societies the message is test, test, test! Know your status. But doing so--getting tested--in the UAE would risk facing the plight described above should one be so unfortunate as to have had contracted the ailment.

As a result of this fear--not of the disease but of government action--no one gets tested voluntarily in the country. One is practically forced to live with the virus untested and untreated, greatly increasing the risk of its further dissemination among the population. Touchet!

Dubai Cares... about what?

Shame on the UAE. I believe it is one of very few countries in the world with such draconian policy regarding HIV and AIDS. Now, what about Dubai's so called Health Care City. I am not sure that the word Care really belongs there. The country's stance on this issue is not only inhumane, but it also represents a potential failure to control the spread of the disease.

Addendum

Recent reports speak of government plans to illiminate job discrimination against HIV+ individuals. Good news? Well, any such laws will be for the benefit of the 10% or so of the population who are UAE nationals. For the other 90% of the resident population, it remains a case of immediate arrest and deportation.

Free education, free medical care and other benefits bestowed upon the national population are well within the purview of any government. Little argument can be made that such privilages should be bestowed upon non-citizens. But a country does not have the right to treat its non-citizen resident population or even visitors in a manner such as that exercised against those found to be HIV+.

The Crux of the Matter:

UAE government policy is to...

• deny the right to work or remain in country to any new arrival or new visa applicant found to be HIV+. Fair enough.
  
  
• deny such rights to a person who has already established residency in the country who at some point is found to be HIV+. No, this is not fair.
  
  
• incarcerate and immediately expell any non-citizen, resident or new arrival, from the country who is found to be HIV+. Absoluely criminal.

For further or more up-to-date info...

• scroll through comments below
• read through text and comments of a second post HIV2
• note the USAID & FDA list of approved HIV Rapid Test Kits (source)

LOTS OF INTERESTING COMMENTS BELOW

Feel free to scroll all the way to the bottom and start with the most recent comments.
I also welcome any personal mail to me at upandhi@gmail.com.

Best Wishes to All
B.D. (updated 12-Mar-2016)