Popular TV Drama Sheds Light on Social Stigma Attached to AIDS in South Korea

A network TV show that features a young girl with HIV has been a ratings winner in South Korea, where AIDS stigma is high and sympathy for those infected is low. Since the March premiere of "Thank You" on the MBC network, viewership of the show has risen steadily to reach 18.5 percent of viewers across the country, according to ratings compiler AGB Nielsen Media Research.

While government statistics show South Korea had just 3,891 HIV cases as of this March, the number of new infections is rising. Last year, a record 751 cases were diagnosed -- more than double the 327 cases detected in 2001.

HIV/AIDS is increasingly becoming a social issue in South Korea. "People's knowledge of the disease has increased, but discrimination and prejudice against HIV carriers and AIDS patients are still very strong and widespread," said Kim Hoon-soo, executive director of the Korea Confederation for HIV/AIDS Prevention.

AIDS stigma in this deeply Confucian society in part arises from people associating the disease with sexual infidelity or engaging in inappropriate intercourse, said Kim. Government data showed 99 percent of reported cases were attributed to sexual contact.

A 2005 survey conducted by South Korea's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found 52 percent of 2,022 South Koreans said they would not send their children to a school where there was an HIV-positive person. Some 40 percent of study participants also said people with HIV should be quarantined in special facilities.

The producers of "Thank You," which runs through May, said they wanted to tell "the story of violence that rises from prejudice, discrimination and stereotype." The show's Web site features factual information on HIV/AIDS.

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