Finau, a Tongan, said isolation is an option now if governments are serious about controlling the spread of HIV/AIDS in the Pacific
“The problem now is that there is no political will to debate these issues. We have tried successfully with other infectious diseases like leprosy, tuberculosis and dengue fever, why not HIV/AIDS?” he asked.
“Those of your who are older may remember the days when typhoid was rampant in the Pacific and homes were told to put out yellow flags as a mark for health workers and to warn people not to go there,” he said.
The firebrand health director said “they should be locked up in a colony, where people living with the virus are looked after by their own peers, also people living with HIV/AIDS.”
He added, “The emergence of human rights has impinged on the rights of people without the disease. Now people who have sinned have more rights than those who sin against them or prisoners have more rights than those they abused. The focus is on equality rather than equity.”
He took a swipe at what he called “glamorizing people living with HIV/AIDS.”
“These people have become famous and have high paid jobs from groups formed to look after people living with HIV/AIDS, and yet the funds needed to help people who need them most are not getting anything at all,” Finau said.
“We incentivize them by giving them high salaries — this is upside down logic,” he added. “It has become a nest for hatching the mediocrity and a bastion for a typical sexual habit. You see now that a lot of gay people are now involved in promoting HIV/AIDS issues.”
Finau said a lot of the funds made accessible through the Global Fund have been used to set up s led by people living with HIV/AIDS instead of filtering down to people who need them most.
Niue, with a population of just over 1,600, has not recorded any confirmed case of HIV/AIDS.
Legislation is still before parliament to debate on whether testing should be made mandatory for migrants and not visitors.
Finau said Niue is the only country in the world to achieve 20 percent level of HIV/AIDS screening among its populace.
“If we have one case now, it will break our health budget to get it treated,” Finau added.
