The Prague Post
October 8th, 2008
Endowment Fund     Business Listings ONLINE      Reservations      Classifieds    Subscriptions
Real Estate Prague Prague Rentals Prague Apartments Prague Art & Antiques

Home » Archives » News

Activism marks World AIDS Day

More education for youth needed despite low disease prevalence

December 5th, 2007 issue

By Kimberly Hiss

Staff Writer

VLADIMÍR WEISS/THE PRAGUE POST
Petr Sobek, whose HIV was diagnosed in 2004, raised awareness with the Czech AIDS Help Society on Wenceslas Square Dec. 1.
VLADIMÍR WEISS/THE PRAGUE POST
Volunteers handed out informational materials from decorated trams.
November 2004 was a turning point for Petr Sobek. Earlier that year, he’d gone to the doctor complaining of a rash and swollen lymph nodes. When his symptoms failed to respond to antibiotics, his physician had him take an AIDS test.
Sobek doesn’t remember the ride home from the hospital after receiving the positive result. AIDS was an issue he’d never before worried about, and his haze of denial continued for months, punctuated by one regret — that he had not used a condom.  
Sobek is now a director’s assistant at the Czech AIDS Help Society (ČSAP), a nonprofit organization that provides resources and support for those living with HIV and AIDS. The group was in high gear last Saturday for World AIDS Day, staging events on Wenceslas Square such as an information booth, musical performances and the running of five decorated trams carrying volunteers who handed out informational materials.
Locally, World AIDS Day has been heralded by news headlines, panel discussions and a visit by U.S. Ambassador Richard Graber to Dům světla, the ČSAP-run center for those living with HIV and AIDS. The nonprofit Czech Family Planning Association (SPRSV) has also launched a nationwide campaign of AIDS education for students running from Nov. 30 to Dec. 9.
Such initiatives come at an important time: 2007 is the first year in which the number of new HIV cases has been higher than 100. According to the National Institute of Public Health (SZÚ), there are to date 1,020 HIV cases in the Czech Republic, 230 of which have developed into AIDS. While reports persist that the actual rate of disease could be up to 10 times as high, the National Reference Laboratory on AIDS estimates only an approximate 20 percent increase over registered cases.
Despite such statistics, the Czech Republic remains a comparatively low-prevalence country for HIV and AIDS.  
“The situation here is relatively stable and quiet,” says Ladislav Machala of the AIDS Center of the Teaching Hospital Bulovka about such statistics, adding that he considers the rate of increase a “mild acceleration.”
Contributing factors
According to some, however, the relatively small occurrence of disease — and the complacency it engenders — is a big problem.
“Low HIV prevalence also means lower HIV attention,” says ČSAP President Ivo Prochazka, referring to the failure, largely among young people, to consider the threat of disease serious enough to practice safe sex. “HIV infection is often seen as an exception that cannot happen to me.”
Dr. Jaroslav Jedlička of the SZÚ couldn’t agree more.
“A low prevalence country [leads to] an underestimation of the risk,” he says. “People think AIDS is possible to treat and cure.”
In addition to such failure to appreciate the risk, another factor in the spread of disease is the increase of uninsured HIV-infected foreigners, largely from Eastern Europe. Dr. Marie Brůčková, head of the National Reference Laboratory on AIDS, points out that, in addition to the need to target obvious areas such as Prague’s gay clubs, “Ethnic minorities need to be addressed, because it’s very hard to get into some of these communities and it appears that HIV and AIDS is spreading among them.”
Such concerns over foreigners may soon have cause to increase. SPRSV Chairman Dr. Radim Uzel fears that, after the country joins the Schengen border-free zone later this month, the disease could spread all the more easily.
“The Czech Republic is sandwiched between countries that have higher rates of HIV,” he says, adding that Schengen-related border concerns are “not just about smuggling; it’s also about disease. In the future, it will be dangerous with more traveling between countries.”
The government reportedly earmarks 20 million Kč ($1.1 million) for AIDS. The prevention subsidy included in that amount will be doubled to 10 million Kč in 2008 in response to the rising rate of disease (a Health Ministry spokesperson declined to confirm the amount).
But, on the ground, that support doesn’t seem felt. At the ČSAP, for instance, Sobek has no doubt that such funding is not enough.
“The government stance on finance is bad,” he says, adding his frustration that funding has dropped even though the number of cases continues to rise. The ČSAP routinely struggles to finance offerings such as a clinic that provides free testing.
“None of the political parties has an outline or a plan,” Sobek says. “They throw around the AIDS issue among themselves like a hot potato, and no one knows what to do with it.”
Sobek does his part in the fight against AIDS and HIV through his work with the ČSAP. He too feels that the risk of disease is not sufficiently appreciated by many, and offers his own personal story as a kind of cautionary tale. His resulting advice is simple.
“Don’t underestimate the disease,” he says. “It’s not worth it.”
That and to use a condom.
— Martina Čermáková, Hela Balínová and Naďa Černá contributed to this report.
Kimberly Hiss can be reached at khiss@praguepost.com


Other articles in News (5/12/2007):

Browse the Current Issue

If you enjoyed this article, why don't you subscribe to the print version!
We accept secure online transactions provided by PayPal and Moneybookers

Be the first to add a comment!


Full Name: *
City: *
E-mail: **
This comment can be published in the print version of The Prague Post
Enter the text on the right:
 visual captcha
Comment: *
* Required field. In order to be approved for display, comments must have a first and last name and a city.
** E-mails are required and will only be used for internal purposes.

Most visited in Business Listings

Hotel booking
The Prague Post Online contains a selection of articles that have been printed in
The Prague Post, a weekly newspaper published in the Czech Republic.
To subscribe to the print paper, click here.
Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited.