World Aids Day

HIV is still here – and it’s on the move

Wear a red ribbon today.
Today is World Aids Day which aims to raise awareness for HIV/AIDS. It’s a time to show people that are living with HIV/AIDS that there is support out there for them and a time to remember those that have been lost to HIV/AIDS.

I actually had an appointment for my 3 monthly check up and refill my PrEP subscription yesterday. We’ve come a long way from thinking it’s a gay only issue and calling it GRID (Gay Related Immune Disease) but its still something that affects our community at a much higher rate than any other. 68% of new contractions in Australia in 2015 were from sex between men.

At the end 2016, Queensland began a 4 year long study into PrEP and the impact that making it freely available to a large number of people would have on new transmissions. I’ve been on that trial since December 2016, I wrote a post about it earlier this year Reasons to come PrEP’d. I’m hopeful that we will see an end to HIV/AIDS within my lifetime, but that isn’t going to be easy. There are links to all of World Aids Day affiliated organisations on their website here.

Get tested for HIV

It still astounds and frightens me that there are people out there who don’t get tested regularly. Just get tested, you want to know, it’s not the death sentance that it has been in the past. With the medication available to us today, living a relatively normal life with an undetectable status is possible.

Everyone can benefit from knowing a little bit more.