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MPs from Christian parties show with their painful comments that they find it incomprehensible that a medicine that literally prevents HIV infections is reimbursed.
In the 1980s, the HIV pandemic began in the United States, but President Reagan took no action. It was a disease that affected men who had sex with other men, and it also affected Haitians. Both groups did not belong to the electorate of conservative Republicans. It was only when the Reagan administration realized that cisgender heterosexual people could also contract HIV that action was taken.
In the Netherlands, the response was also slow at the time, because it was thought that the situation in the Netherlands would not be as serious as in San Francisco or Los Angeles. That was a big mistake. Since then, more than 40 million men, women and children have died from this terrible virus. Fortunately, in 2012, after years of research and development, a pill that could prevent HIV transmission was finally introduced: PrEP.
PrEP is a means of preventing HIV infections. In several countries, including the United Kingdom, Canada, South Africa and Morocco, PrEP is already part of national HIV prevention programs and has been proven effective without controversy. There are few new infections in Amsterdam, and the PrEP pill appears to be cost-effective. Certain groups, also called key populations, are at increased risk of HIV infection and are eligible for PrEP. Administering and using PrEP is critical for these key populations to control infections and prevent the virus from spreading to others. That is why outgoing Minister of Health Ernst Kuipers announced in a letter to Parliament on September 25 that PrEP will be more widely available. This announcement immediately provoked reactions, including false contradictions.
MPs from Christian parties Joba van den Berg (CDA) and Mirjam Bikker (CU) show with their painful comments that they find it incomprehensible that a medicine that literally prevents HIV infections is reimbursed. It is dismissed as ‘whataboutism’ (yes, but what about disease Y or drug X?), a method to divert attention from the subject and an attempt to cloud the discussion. And otherwise I hear discussions about personal responsibility and value judgments about personal sexual orientation and relationships that do not fit into the heteronormative image such as ‘“You shouldn’t have sex with Jan Alleman or wear a condom and then you won’t contract HIV.”
It seems that these arguments actually disguise homophobia (I refuse to call it a phobia) and are wrapped in political contradictions and an appeal to personal responsibility. We will probably hear more of these false contradictions and arguments. Arguments steeped in value judgments about sexual orientation and sexual relationships, especially those of queer people. These arguments and contradictions are embraced by politicians, parties and others with a conservative view of sexual behavior, similar to the view and actions of former President Reagan.
Protecting key populations from HIV also benefits the general population. The significant decline in HIV infections in Amsterdam is largely due to people who faithfully took PrEP pills and took other preventive measures to protect themselves and others. It’s stigmatizing to assume that the queer community doesn’t know what they’re doing. Administering PrEP includes before and after care, testing and counseling about STDs, condom use and discussing risk behavior. PrEP is not a license for risky behavior. Doubting the quality of STD and HIV care in the Netherlands is an insult to our professionals who are committed to the sexual health of our fellow citizens. Remember the Mpox outbreak of summer 2022 and how quickly it was contained? This was thanks to the queer community who worked so hard to protect themselves and their loved ones and to take measures. The government played an important role in this, together with the key populations. It is therefore essential to understand that the government provides care regardless of guilt or judgment about a person’s behavior.
I would like to emphasize that a religious or conservative moralistic tone about sexual behavior has never contributed to the prevention of HIV infections or STDs. What does help is an active prevention and treatment policy that has proven to be effective and without value judgment or blame on the part of the patient. And that also applies to PrEP. This proven effective means of preventing HIV infections should be used without any sexual judgment. If PrEP is not provided to at-risk groups, the risk of HIV infection remains significant, and people will continue to receive positive HIV tests. It is morally unacceptable not to reimburse or prescribe a highly effective drug against HIV, which continues to claim lives and has already claimed many lives, to our fellow human beings simply because of their sexual orientation and lifestyle.
Although there are politicians who use ideologies that sometimes conflict with the general well-being of our fellow citizens, I welcome the decision and the progress in Ernst Kuipers’ PrEP policy. I ask Christian, but also other conservative politicians and policymakers, to take an example from Morocco. An Islamic country that puts aside its value judgments about sex and looks at what is important: protecting your people! In Morocco, PrEP has long since left the pilot phase, there are no waiting lists or quotas, it is 100% reimbursed by the state including precaution, aftercare, testing, condom provision and social worker, for queer people, sex workers and their partners!
PS: Give for an AIDS-free future. Donate now to the Aidsfonds via www.aidsfonds.nl
2023-09-26 10:27:29
#Resistance #PrEP #homophobia #wrapped #false #contradictions #Joop #BNNVARA
