AFA Anonymous Testing

[Idoru]

The AFA Anonymous Testing & Counselling Centre provides HIV testing and consulling on Wednesday evenings & Saturday afternoons. It is anonymous and confidential.
Location: At the DSC Clinic.

Did you read todays New Paper that five of its Centre's volunteers tested HIV positive? How can this happen man ????????????
Cheers

[longanhead]

They are human too. This can be a lesson to all cheongster's also. We cannot be complacent and think that it won't happen to us. Play safe, wear a condom.

[manfoong]

They preach safety They practise UNSAFE SEX Now 5 Aids volunteers are HIV-positive
By Ng Wan Ching
July 11, 2005 Print Ready Email Article

THEY were there to help, listen, and advise. They were trained to educate people, especially gay men, about the dangers of unsafe sex, and the threat of Aids.

Now, these volunteers themselves have contracted HIV, begging the question: Why didn't they practise what they preached?
Click to see larger image

The New Paper understands from sources that up to five of the 65 volunteers in the MSM outreach programme, run by the Action for Aids (AFA) group, have contracted HIV in the last two years.

Because of the cloak of secrecy which surrounds people with HIV and the sensitivity of the positions our sources are in, we cannot confirm an exact number.

The numbers that have come up range from three to five. It is also because of their sensitive positions that our sources have declined to be named.

MSM stands for men who have sex with men.

We also understand that the volunteers who contracted HIV are university graduates, well-to-do and good-looking.

The situation has been verified - independently and separately - by three sources, all of whom are passionate volunteers in efforts to prevent the spread of Aids.

The latest HIV-positive volunteer discovered the awful truth three months ago.

All of them found out when they went to the only anonymous testing clinic in Singapore to get tested. The DSC Clinic - at Block 31, Kelantan Lane - is run by AFA.

There may be others who tested positive at other testing sites or in other countries. That information is not privy to our sources.

The irony is that while the AFA may be the champions of the HIV prevention cause, it has not been able to protect its own members.

These recent episodes among the volunteers have disturbed a few stalwart members of AFA so much that one has even quit.

The group is upset about why the issue has not been brought up and discussed among the executive committee members.

One source said he brought it up during an executive committee meeting.

He claimed an exco member said that the volunteers' private lives should remain private.

OTHER VOLUNTEERS UPSET

Whatever the case, the discovery has brought great emotional heartache to fellow volunteers. After all, volunteers are trained to know. And more than most, they are expected to know better.

Said a source: 'When the volunteers go for a test, we don't charge them and we don't ask questions.

'When the test results come back positive, it's always very emotionally draining to tell them and then listen to all their fears.'

Every one, no matter how complacent before the infection, would become depressed and upset after the diagnosis.

'These guys are so young. They're so vulnerable.'

One of the volunteers who tested positive actually told his partner that he did not want our source to know about his infection.

'We are all in the same boat. So since we have been working together for a long time, I have always told the volunteers, threatened them in playful way, 'Make sure you don't end up with HIV'.
Click to see larger image

'When they turn out to be positive, it's a real oh-my-gosh situation. He was scared that I would scold him,' said the source.

The biggest blow for our source is that the very people trained to counsel others about prevention should themselves become victims.

'They tell me, 'Once is okay lah, if I have it once unprotected, it should not be a problem'.

'These are the people who I know have good knowledge about HIV because I trained them, but they can't resist the temptation.

'It's always because, 'The guy is too handsome'.

'So despite knowing the risks, they choose to play Russian roulette.

'It's like when they pull down their zips, their brains also drop.'

Our source is also concerned about the recent profile of an MSM volunteer.

Said the second source: 'Recently, many of the volunteers have been young, good-looking men below 30 years old.

'And they are 99 per cent gay men.'

The source is voicing this concern because there is a possibility, no matter how remote, that these young male volunteers are coming forward because they see the MSM outreach programme as another avenue for them to meet other gay men.

'There have been times when one of the volunteers is counselling on the phone and I notice that he is talking on the phone for a very long time.

'By that time, I know they are not so much counselling as getting to know the other person on the other end of the line,' said the source, who will then step in and tell the volunteer to cut it short.

'You do the counselling and then you leave. What you do outside is not my business.

'I know they build rapport with their patients and the patients want to keep in touch with the counsellors. I always tell them, just be safe, know what you are doing. I know of many counsellors who have met patients and in the follow-up have become partners.'

According to Mr Roger Winder, co-ordinator of the MSM outreach programme, of the 65 volunteers currently with the programme, 15 are young men in their 20s, seven are women and the rest are older men.

NO FEAR

One of the reasons our source thinks that so many young educated volunteers have been infected recently is their lack of fear.

'This group has not seen the suffering of the older patients,' said the source.

Today, so many HIV patients fly to Bangkok to get their drugs cheap. Before they go, they are so sickly. When they return, they are beefed up, buff and healthy again, said the source.

'In Singapore, the cocktail of drugs a HIV patient needs to keep healthy can cost over $1,000 a month.

'But if they go to Bangkok to get the generic drugs, it costs less than one third what they pay here. This is portraying a very different picture of HIV and Aids,' said the source.

It could lead the young to become complacent about HIV.

'I feel and fear that they are now thinking that as long as they do not show the symptoms, everything is fine,' said the source.

The clubbing scene and use of recreational drugs among some gays are two factors which encourage random and unsafe sex, said the source.

'I know things happen when they get high and I know this happens quite a lot in the gay clubbing scene,' the source added.

Another source said one of his concerns is that the volunteers are not practising what they are preaching.

'If they are not following the prevention message, then what are they telling people who need guidance?'

MY DEADLY MISTAKE

He is young, with male-model looks and gay. As a professional with a hip lifestyle, he has everything going for him.

Except that today, the dark cloud of death hovers in the horizon.

He is HIV-positive.

The 26-year-old is one of up to five volunteers who were infected with HIV while doing their bit for the MSM outreach programme under the auspices of Action for Aids (AFA).

MSM stands for men who have sex with men.

His task involved handing out condoms at certain events targeted at gay men.

He is intelligent and acutely aware of the need to practise safe sex.

He had, as he told The New Paper on Sunday, 'good practices' in place which he thought would protect him.

Since he started being sexually active at 18, he makes sure to get himself tested for HIV once every six months.

He has had 20 lovers, including four who were long-term relationships.

'When I had random sex I would not use the condom if it was just oral sex.

'But if there was intercourse, whether I was the giver or receiver, the condom was non-negotiable,' he said in an interview with The New Paper on Sunday on the rooftop of a shopping centre in the east.

The rules changed somewhat when he was in a committed relationship.

'Then both of us would go for a HIV test.

[manfoong]

'If the tests came back negative for both of us, then we would have unprotected sex,' he said.

The slip up came with his fourth boyfriend.

He and his boyfriend went for a HIV test when they decided they would be in a committed relationship.

Both tests came back negative.

He proceeded to have unprotected sex with his boyfriend.

Then he came down with a very high fever which took an unusually long time to subside.

After many days, it eventually became a low grade fever.

At first, doctors thought he had dengue fever.

But it wasn't.

'I thought I should get a HIV test, just in case,' he said.

Throughout the interview he was careful to keep his emotions under check.

But his eyes betrayed him.

'The first test came back inconclusive. That drove me mad,' he said, his eyes turning red.

A few weeks later, the second test was conclusive. It was a huge shock.

'Makes you think about your own mortality,' he said.

He stopped having sex when he discovered his infection about 1 1/2 years ago.

'I'm not ready, I guess.

'I'm still trying to come to terms with my status and how there is so little support for people with HIV/Aids in Singapore,' he said.

He has told his parents and family.

Their support is a big help in his efforts to cope.

'I got HIV because I slipped up.

'My boyfriend had had random sex with someone before we started a relationship.

'When we took the HIV test, it was during his window period. So the HIV antibodies did not show up yet,' he said.

The time it takes for a person who has been infected with HIV to seroconvert (test positive) for HIV antibodies is commonly called the 'window period'.

When a person is infected with the HIV virus, statistics show that 95 to 97 per cent or higher of all infected individuals develop antibodies within 12 weeks (3 months).

In some cases, it may take up to six months for one to seroconvert.

'At this point the results would be 99.9 per cent accurate.

He does not blame the boyfriend whom he is no longer seeing.

'We drifted apart for other reasons but I still keep in touch with him,' he said.

He also stopped volunteering at the AFA when he found out about his status.

'I'm not actively volunteering in the frontline because I'm not ready.

'I may volunteer in different ways now like talking to you or going to support groups,' he said.

But he feels strongly that there should be no discrimination against 'the pozzies' (those who are HIV positive).

'If the volunteer led someone astray or told someone wrong information then it's very bad.

'But I think most volunteers are also human and they make mistakes.'

Through his own experiences, he knows that young people, both gay and straight, are still taking risks.

'Gay people, straight people, young people, they are having sex, lots of sex and some of it or a lot of it may not be protected sex,' he said.

But the way to these people is not through strict and draconian means, he insisted.

'I don't know what the solution is.

'But keeping help away from these people when they become HIV positive is not part of it.

'I know many who put off treatment because they can't afford it.

'What will the authorities do about this?' he asked as he walked off into the night.

AFA EX-CO MEMBER DIDN'T KNOW

TWO members of the Action for Aids executive committee said they were unaware that any of their volunteers had become HIV positive.

Said Ms Dawn Mok, 33, a freelance writer and AFA exco member: 'It has not been brought up to any exco meetings.

'And I have not received any minutes which referred to it.

'You know, over the years, AFA has taken flak for a lot of things.

'There's a lot of controversy associated with us. But as an organisation, we have done the best that we can do.'

She pointed out that even when the AFA wants to conduct educational talks among students, some parents get very upset once condoms are mentioned.

'The whole subject is very sensitive,' she said.

And since they are a volunteer-based organisation, they will discuss issues and everything that pertains to volunteers.

'I'm very positive that if there is an issue, it would have been brought to our attention,' she said.

The AFA does not demand that its volunteers are tested before they can be volunteers.

'We also do not ask them for their status,' said Ms Mok.

'But we do expect that volunteers would know better and would take care of themselves and their partners.'

Ms Nooraini Abdul Rahim (left), 39, who adopted Ariq, an HIV positive baby, and who is an AFA exco member, said she had no idea about volunteers becoming HIV positive.

'Now I must go and find out what is happening,' she said.

AFA SAYS: NO DISCRIMINATION AGAINST VOLUNTEERS

MR Roger Winder, programme director Action for Aids and co-ordinator of the MSM outreach programme is saddened and disturbed.

Now that he has heard about the five volunteers contracting HIV while they were volunteering, he has also brought it up as an issue to the volunteers.

'With something like this, we can't control what our volunteers do. We can only strongly encourage them to practice safer sex,' he said in an interview with The New Paper on Sunday.

'Practically all our volunteers, if they have been through some sort of training, would know what safer sex is.

'I'm very sad to hear about AFA volunteers contracting HIV and quite disturbed. I hope that the volunteer that you have spoken to is doing all right. I have alerted all the volunteers about what some people are saying is happening and it should serve as a reminder that they should be responsible,' he said.

But he hastened to add that AFA does not discriminate in recruiting, accepting or retaining volunteers.

COMMITTED

'We are willing to accept and train anyone who is sincerely committed to helping us achieve our objectives, regardless of their age, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation or HIV status,' he said.

AFA especially does not expect anyone to provide the last two categories of information.

He said that before The New Paper on Sunday contacted him, he had not heard of any volunteers getting HIV.

'Of course, information about someone's HIV status is confidential so it is no surprise that I am unaware of this,' he said.

'We do not require our volunteers to undergo HIV testing before or after recruitment, or at any other juncture of their involvement with the organisation.

'Doing so will violate our principle of non-discrimination on the basis of HIV status, as well as the basic human rights of any individual, volunteer or otherwise.'

AFA recognises the very important role that HIV infected individuals can and should play in HIV prevention and education activities.

This principle of 'greater involvement of persons with Aids' (Gipa) is held as a best practice by the World Health Organisation, Unaids and national Aids programmes everywhere.

'AFA welcomes HIV infected persons as volunteers and supporters as we believe that they are in the best position to advise others on the infection,' said Mr Winder.

New volunteers are trained according to the needs of the projects/programmes they are involved in.

Such training often includes detailed information about sexual health and safer sex behaviour.

'We are confident that our volunteers are hardworking, committed and responsible individuals who do their best to raise awareness of safer sex and who would protect themselves and others,' said Mr Winder.

[bongster]

I was expecting some person to post this thread to mock AFA.

Instead of providing words of encouragement to these volunteers against this deadly disease, why do you wanna hit them hard again? People are also human, they made mistakes, the persons affected did bring their partners to test for HIV before proceding to do RAW sex. I regard this case as similar to boyfriend galfriend, if one party (in this case, not the AFA volunteer but his partner) wants to fuck casually ard outside RAW without the knowledge of his partner. The AFA volunteer was suay that he partner is a lying RAW kia who fucked ard w/o his knowledge.

Consider these factors:

1) MSM practise ANAL sex which is higher risk.

2) The pool of MSM is smaller so within the community the virus is spread faster.

3) Small head over big head (NO ONE IS IMMUNE TO HIV)

This can be the same scenario as a married man wif HIV who passes it on to his spouse etc.

This is a damned fucking good wake up call to practise safe sex, etc. A wise man is not one who learns from his mistake, he one who learns from others mistakes. In fact I realised that bros who are commercial cheongsters are normally take more precautions den ppl who never cheong and onli go for ons/flings cos the 2nd group normally fuck care and they are more used to RAW.

REMEMBER WEAR CAP... and SUPPORT AFA...

[kumcheng]

Yeah, no point attributing blame after the incident. But this is a wake-up call for everyone: try to cap always unless with your wife or super committed partner.

[Idoru]

Originally Posted by longanhead

They are human too. This can be a lesson to all cheongster's also. We cannot be complacent and think that it won't happen to us. Play safe, wear a condom.

Yeah, got zapped by maybe from one of the five or their lovers.
Cheers

[Idoru]

Originally Posted by Idoru

Yeah, got zapped by maybe from one of the five or their lovers.
Cheers

Wow got zapped 3 times again, never knew Sam's Forum creeping with MSM
anyway the truth always hearts.
Cheers