Tan Tock Seng Hospital Patient Care Centre’s Charity Dinner 2011

10 Sep 2011

By Dr Amy Khor
Venue: Marriot Hotel

1.     Singapore has a low level HIV epidemic, but we must continue to implement measures to ensure that the epidemic does not escalate. As there is currently no cure or vaccine for HIV, prevention and education is the mainstay of our national HIV control programme. We continue to step up our education programmes for the general population, at schools, workplaces and for those at high risk of infection. We are also encouraging more HIV testing in the population.

2.     In the past few years, there have been many efforts to make HIV testing widely available and accessible to all. The purpose of these efforts is to help persons who have been infected with HIV to be diagnosed as early as possible. When persons are diagnosed early, they can start managing their condition early to delay the onset of the complications of AIDS. This includes taking steps to prevent spreading the infection to others.

3.     Almost all medical clinics in Singapore now offer HIV testing. In addition, some clinics offer point-of-care oral-fluid based rapid HIV testing, which can give results within 20 minutes. For those who prefer not to be identified to healthcare personnel, anonymous HIV testing is available at seven sites in Singapore. Other efforts to help persons with HIV to be diagnosed earlier include antenatal testing (or testing during pregnancy), which was introduced and championed by the late Dr Balaji. Antenatal testing has reduced the number of cases of mother-to-child transmission to almost zero. In addition, there is opt-out testing for inpatients at all public sector hospitals.

4.     There were 221 confirmed HIV cases diagnosed in the first half of 2011. This is comparable to the 214 confirmed cases between January and Jun 2010. The majority of newly diagnosed HIV patients continue to be in the advanced stage of the disease. In 2010, more than half of the new cases already had late-stage HIV infection when they were diagnosed. The possible reasons for this could be lack of knowledge and inaccurate perception of their individual risk. There are also individuals who know they have high risks for HIV but are reluctant to go for HIV testing. Why? Because having a HIV test and finding out that one is positive opens the door to many issues – a key challenge of which is coping with the stigma and discrimination which often accompany the disease. For this reason, many are reluctant to know their real status.

5.     Reducing HIV-related stigma and discrimination is an important aspect of the HIV prevention and control programme. The Ministry of Health, through the Health Promotion Board, has several initiatives that aim to educate people about HIV transmission and dispel common myths and misconceptions. For World Aids Day 2010, HPB commissioned an art exhibition with emerging artists to showcase positive attitudes towards issues relating to HIV and safer sex messages. HPB has also repackaged their workplace education programme into a 3-in-1 workplace talk covering HIV, TB and flu. The uptake of this package has been very encouraging. We also plan to expand our anti-stigma and discrimination efforts to reach more people in the general public during this year’s World Aids Day events.

6.     Society must play a bigger part in breaking down the barriers to HIV testing. People with HIV have lost their jobs and the much-needed social support as a result of their diagnosis. Such occurrences should not happen.

7.     Early diagnosis can only be achieved if people feel that the environment is safe and supportive. A change in attitude by the community can decrease the obstacles to testing. This dinner is held not only to raise funds for the various programmes at the Patient Care Centre to benefit our patients. It is also to raise awareness about HIV and the issues faced by people with this illness through the gathering of people like you -- volunteers, friends and health care workers -- who support this cause. Together, we can work to create a better and safer environment for those living with HIV.

8.     On this note, I want to thank you for your support and may you have a very pleasant evening.