Ten years ago, Pong* went to a party that would change the course of his life. Inside the dim-lit room were a group of five people who were drinking alcohol and taking drugs. When Pong got high on meth, he was caught off guard and ended up having condomless sex.
He felt desperate when he learned that he had contracted HIV because it carried social stigma at the time. However, friends and doctors helped him get through the darkest period. Since then, he has been on antiretroviral therapy (ART) under the universal healthcare coverage scheme and he has never fallen prey to his old ways again.
However, he has noticed a growing phenomenon of this urban hedonistic subculture among young people because drugs are cheap and medical breakthroughs have lulled them into complacency. With the coming of long holidays next week, teens are expected to have drug…
