HIV / AIDS

in Turkey and in Germany

Die Forschung zum Thema "HIV/AIDS - ein Vergleich der Situationen in der Türkei und in Deutschland"

- Die Ergebnisse

4. Informationen von HRDF (Human Resource Development Foundation)

- Interview mit Dr. Muhtar Çokar, türkischer Arzt und Mitarbeiter bei HRDF in Istanbul

Q: What does the organization generally do?

A: Since 1988 the organization works in the fields of family planning, training programmes and strengthening human resources in general.

Q: What does the organization do concerning the disease HIV/AIDS?

A: In 1994/1995 the organization started a programme regarding HIV/AIDS. They mainly worked with the sex workers (prostitutes etc.) on Istanbul's streets to who they try to keep the contact. At present their work concentrates on sexual-health education.

Q: Does the organization get financial support from the Turkish government?

A: No, they are supported by the EU.

Q: Is HIV/AIDS a public discussed subject or is it more a taboo topic in Turkey?

A: The problem of HIV/AIDS is known throughout Turkey and it is discussed as well. But as in all countries the people in Turkey are afraid of infected people as well and do not like to talk about it.

Q: Do you think that HIV/AIDS is less spread in Turkey than it is in the more western parts of Europe; maybe because of the prohibition of sex before marriage as said in quran?

A: Sexual behaviour in Turkey is different from the sexual behaviour in the more western countries. But young people in Turkey do have sexual contacts before marriage, too. Young men often have their first sexual contacts with prostitutes. And a lot of the men are polygamic even after the marriage as well. In contrast to that women in Turkey rarely have sexual contacts before marriage and they are mostly monogamic.

Q: What do you think is the main infection risk in Turkey?

A: The main infection risk is sexual contacts with migrant sex workers. They often come from countries of the former Soviet Union and sometimes bring the disease with them. The risk of homosexual contacts which was seen as the main risk at first is nowadays only 5-7%. Sex tourism which exists in Turkey as well is one of the main risks as well.

Q: How are homosexuals treated in the society?

A: Gay groups etc. only exist in big cities like Istanbul and Ankara. There the homosexuals can lead a quite free life. Generally, especially in other parts of Turkey, homosexuals are made fun of. And those who live in smaller towns or even villages have to leave home in order to be able to live their sexuality openly.

Q: Are the infected people discriminated in the Turkish society?

A: HIV/AIDS-infected patients are discriminated in the Turkish society. But as the family tradition is still very important in Turkey those who are infected are taken care of by their families. Women in Turkey are even more discriminated because it is assumed that they had various sexual relations.

Q: Do people who are infected live openly with the disease?

A: No. There is only one person in Turkey who admits that he is HIV positive in public. After that he had a really hard time to go through, because he lost his job and he was discriminated etc. But later he found a woman to live with and he lives quite happily, now. He is a really famous man in Turkey due to the fact that he is the only infected person who talk about their illness openly; he is a genious guy.

Q: What would you say is the average age that people get infected with the virus at?

A: It is probably between 25-30 years.

Q: How is the medical care for HIV/AIDS patients in Turkey? Is it possible to do a HIV-test anonymously?

A: It is possible to do a test anonymously. But you have to pay for the test. Therefore a lot of people go to blood donnation in order to do a test anonymously and free. There are also cases in which the police force sex workers to do a test in a hospital and afterwards, if the test is positive, the police put a picture of the sex worker in the newspaper with a note that this sex worker is HIV positive and the people should be aware. It is not allowed by the law but it is done nevertheless. It is also sometimes possible that doctors refuse to treat HIV patients so that the patient is rejected in different hospitals.

Q: What is done (by the government / by your organization) to prevent HIV/AIDS from spreading wider in Turkey, for example work in schools, advertisements in public...?

A: The organization HRDF has worked with the ministry of education for three years in order to develop the sexual-health education for schools in Turkey. They have built trainee programmes and training faculties for teachers who teach sexual-health education. This kind of education had not existed in Turkey before. Sexuality had only been taught by means of reproduction of animals etc. The new sexual education has been introduced to all Turkish schools and is now permanent part of the school curriculum. In addition to that there are public advertisements like posters etc.

Q: Are there other organizations that deal with the problem HIV/AIDS?

A: Yes, there are a few other organizations that deal with HIV/AIDS. Some of them deal with it concerning family planning. One of them is, for example, the Turkish Family Planning Foundation. Another one is the AIDS Prevention Society which mainly deal with HIV/AIDS.

- Was Dr. Gural über seine Erfahrungen bei der Arbeit bei HRDF (Human Resource Development Foundation) schrieb:

“In the society, AIDS is seen as homosexuals’ disease and people are still careless about safe sex. It is still seen as a taboo subject and not many people are aware the way of getting the infection. We have worked with the sex workers on this issue but currently we do not have a full fledged program, but we are seeking funds to continue our sex workers project(...). Monogamous relationships are highly prevalent in the society, however with the younger generation and in urban life these trends are changing. quran does not have much affect on people´s sexual choices, it is mainly the society norms such as marrying a virgin is still very important especially in the rural areas and among conservative families.”

- Staatliche Statistiken (weitergegeben von HRDF-Human Resource Development Foundation)

Infizierte (HIV+/Aids): 1429
- weibl:448 mnl:981
- Homo/bisexuell: 108
- Heterosexuell: 728
- über Bluttransfusion infiziert: 41
- Übertragungsweg unbekannt:414

(Erhebungen zwischen Oktober 1985 und Juni 2002)

Dr. Gural schrieb außerdem bzgl. der Zahlen folgendes:

“As you see from these figures, HIV/AIDS is still not a public major health problem in Turkey but we have doubts about these figures. We believe that infected individuals are way about these figures, although AIDS cases are low. But STIs are increasing rapidly.”

Zum Anfang