If you’re waking up this Monday morning HIV-free, we say congrats to you.

It’s things like this we often forget when Monday is kicking us in the ass – you know what I mean? When’s the last time you woke up and said “At least I don’t have HIV”? But that privilege isn’t for anyone. Many suffer from the deadly disease, especially in Malawi, where the disease has had an impact on the workforce and GDP.

In 2007, the Malawi government began giving out monthly stipends of about $35 to help people improve their nutrition while being sick. But that $35 is soon going to be replaced with bags of food because of corruption within the program.

According to the story, many of the 40,000 who received the stipend were using the money on prostitutes and beer. Now, we’re never a group to tell people to not party, but if you have HIV, it’s pretty shady to take a government handout and further spread the disease.

But that’s not why this is the topic of this week’s Case of the Mondays. Reading on, we came across this nugget:

The scheme was launched in 2007, but was grossly abused with hundreds of workers claiming to have HIV in order to cash in on the payment, she said in a statement.

Your job/life is so bad you have to fake HIV to get a monthly stipend worth three trips to Chipotle?

So maybe we don’t wake up and say “At least I don’t have HIV…” but I’m starting to think we can start waking up and saying “At least I don’t have to lie about HIV to my employer.”

Enjoy this AIDS-free Monday.

[Source: Vancouver Sun]