This is heartbreaking, yet also heartwarming to watch.
Vicks ointment released a commercial on its official Philippine Facebook page on Wednesday that depicts a kid living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and the prejudice people place on the virus and those who have it.
“Everyone deserves the #TouchofCare, especially children who’ve been abandoned and become ostracised because of their illness,” it said in its post.
“This is a true story of how the power of the #TouchOfCare has given a helpless baby the chance to survive like any other child.”
The story opens with a boy offering to share some food with another kid. The latter’s mother stops her child from taking the food and says in Filipino: “Son, don’t take that! Why does his mother let him do that? Isn’t he contagious?”
This addresses a misconception about HIV because FYI, the virus can’t be transmitted through sweat, saliva or urine.
The boy in the ad was just an infant when he was given away to his birth mom’s best friend named Agnes. Agnes says in Filipino in the video: “His own relatives didn’t want him. But I accepted him.”
She had no idea about the baby boy’s condition until she needed to bring him to the hospital because he wouldn’t stop crying. That was when the doctor revealed that the boy needed to be regularly checked and monitored because he was HIV positive after the virus was passed on to him by his birth mom.
Agnes says that people started looking at them differently, but she didn’t give up hope. “My only wish was that he could be like other kids, go to school, have friends.”
One day, the doctor tells her that the virus was finally dormant inside the boy’s body, a state where the virus is still active but reproduces at very low levels. Those infected with the virus may not have any symptoms or get sick during this time. If treated properly, this stage could last for decades.
The ad ends on a happy note, with Agnes saying that the boy can now live like every other child.
“Today he can be like other children. He didn’t choose to be born with it, but I’d like to think that whatever is in his blood is constantly overcome by my love for him,” she says.
The video had over 61,000 views, 2,500 likes, and 2,200 shares. Netizens lauded the video and how it raised awareness about HIV.
Lorénzo Búkas wrote in a mix of English and Filipino: “Thank you so much Vicks. At this day and age, there should be no room anymore for misconceptions about HIV.”
Lyean Estabillo said: “[This is] [p]owerful Vicks Philippines. Kudos in [r]aising [a]wareness for HIV misconceptions/wrong assumptions. The way ADS SHOULD BE, with substance (but has heartache) [especially] for health-related concerns, those that have been stigmatized by society!”
NB Libao said: “Thank you so much Vicks Philippines. It touched my heart. As an advocate and nurse for [people living with HIV] (PLHIV), this really means to them. I literally cried, hehehe. Love them. Care [for] them. Support them.”
Meynard Fonbuena Robles added: “Kudos Vicks. This was heartbreaking as it was heartwarming. Thank you for raising awareness on HIV. #EndTheStigma.”
Heribert M. Agulan said it’s a “loving way of giving them the light through their darkest battle.”
Jeibu Ando shared: “HIV is not a death sentence, end the stigma! Thank you so much Vicks! I cried.”
We’re not crying, you are!
