Photo by Maris Morkans
By Alina Lisina
RIGA, Nov 14 - While HIV/AIDS is widely perceived as a death sentence, for Alexander Molokovsky it marked the start of a new, better life.
Alexander, who was infected with HIV a decade ago and now runs the HIV.Iv organisation in Latvia, says it prompted him to start a new life after the diagnosis - a life full of meaning.
“I was just wasting my time before – I didn’t work, didn’t believe in anything,” he said. "After I got to know I was infected everything changed – I understood - I don’t want to die. Do you know how strong that wish is?”
He says that life is beautiful, and it’s great to be alive. Just to be alive.
"And my life now is all about helping others. If due to my work a few people will avoid HIV, I’ll be happy,” he says.
Rather than spend his days complaining of the government’s parsimony in pensions for the disabled, and the side effects of the ART (anti-retroviral) drugs he takes to control the virus, he chooses to look on the positive side.
For the last five years Alexander has been working full time running HIV.lv, which leads the battle against HIV/AIDS in his country and helps those who are HIV-positive. He also runs education campaigns for drug users.
At the moment he is working on what he sees as a key project, after receiving a European Union grant, to help HIV-positive people in Latvia’s prisons.
“People use drugs and have sex in prisons, but there are no risk-reduction programs there,” he says. “They use the same needles more than 100 times.”
Now Alexander is trying to get another grant – to make HIV tests free inside prisons and to give prisoners free ART therapy if needed.
He says his projects are crucially important because, in his view, the Latvian government gives too little attention to HIV issues. “Sometimes it seems as if we don’t have any HIV in Latvia,” he said. “However statistics show that 4,000 people out of our total population of just 2.5 millions are infected.”
“The problem is that many people, especially drug users, start treatment when it’s already too late. They don’t take HIV tests and get to hospital only after AIDS has already taken hold, when the virus has mutated and it’s too late to start ART therapy.”
Alexander is convinced that HIV is not a death sentence – people can live for 20-30 years and lead a normal life, can even have healthy children. And he welcomes what he sees as a greater awareness and understanding of the disease among ordinary people.
HIV is a disease which people choose themselves, except for new babies, who get it from their mothers. If you have sex without condoms, or share needles, you are at risk.
“You can’t protect yourself from earthquakes, but you can protect yourself from HIV and AIDS,” he says.
This article is part of a series from alumni of the Thomson Reuters Foundation HIV/AIDS reporting course in Bangkok, 10-14 November. Any opinions are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.