Category: World Aids Day

Stigma persists around HIV because of outdated perceptions of the virus and what it means to be HIV positive today, writes Sinclair Laing. December 1 is World AIDS Day. Or World HIV Day, as we prefer. Stop: that’s not your cue to click away! It’s an important day of recognition, but it’s far from your preconceived story of doom and gloom. If I may indulge for a moment, I’ll tell you a little about me, a person living a long, healthy, fun, open, professional, loving, and very fulfilling life here in the Granite City – with HIV. Before being diagnosed a decade ago, I had those ideas of HIV misery that perpetuated. Most of us did, except the few better informed. When I was diagnosed, I went through all the emotions: swore (loudly), cried (a fair bit), feared, blamed and shamed myself. I thought I’d die young and never be loved. But,...

When I was 29, back in 1996 I was diagnosed with HIV. It was a different world back then compared to what it is like now. My CD4 (white blood cell count) was down to 30 – in a healthy person it can be around 1,000. I was told I had two to three months to live. That was an awful time for me, dealing with that knowledge and being so very ill, yet not really able to tell anyone because of the stigma associated with HIV. However, more than 25 years after diagnosis, I am still here, living a full and healthy life and comfortable talking about my status. In that time, a lot of advances have been made around HIV. I used to have to take over 150 tablets per week, nowadays I only need to take one tablet a day. I, along with a couple of friends and...