WORLD AIDS DAY 2010

Our generation has grown up under the fear of aids and we can all still recall those 1980’s images of skeletal men with horror. Remember people dying. Many older gay men now believe that there is a worrying trend towards complacency about HIV and even that there is a significant minority who regard the virus as no more serious than any other sexually-transmitted disease. They believe that the younger generation are more reckless now about contracting HIV, comforted by the availability of powerful anti-retroviral drugs and the message that it’s now a “manageable illness”. It seems to have dropped under the radar In this country. Almost like we presume it’s a virus that has been conquered. Well, it hasn’t. Of course, it goes without saying that we need to banish our heterosexual complacency of seeing Aids as a “gay disease”. It’s not. More than 90,000 people are living with HIV in the UK and new infections continue every year, especially among the heterosexual African community.

Within the past decade the infection rate in the UK has doubled. In 2008 there were more than 7,000 new diagnoses.

I have it on very good authority that there is a whole load of “barebacking” (sex without a condom) going on….mainly amongst HIV positive guys (ie with other HIV+ guys) and there is a little (although some anecdotal) evidence of ‘superinfection’ – when one is already infected with one strain, you can become infected with another strain – which puts a greater strain on the overall immune system – and is more difficult to treat. However, most people who know that they are HIV, are now on medication and the medication is so strong that it prevents subsequent infections taking hold. In addition, most people on medication have an ‘undetectable’ viral load and therefore transmission whilst still possible/feasible, is unlikely.

There seems to be good reason to encourage tougher campaigns because we are now receiving mixed messages about the risks. My HIV positive friend says “the problem lies with generally younger guys who see people like me, who have lived with the bastard for many years – generally healthy and living a pretty normal life and think, ‘well it isn’t such a bad thing after all, lets have the wild unprotected sex we all like and want and if we get it we get it…..a few pills and we’ll be fine, just like all those other muscle dudes….’. There is also the ‘allure’ of joining a ‘club’ of likeminded ‘sexy’ guys who have nothing left to worry about and tend to party like there is no tomorrow. Drugs, such as crystal meth and ghb are rife on the scene, which cause irresponsible behaviour – but that, in a way, is a whole side issue. I think the biggest culprit for continuing rise in infection numbers is ignorance…..guys do not know they are positive. They are not therefore on medication and therefore their viral load is high and their chances of infecting some else are higher – they have risky/unprotected sex with – unsurprising consequences….If there is one message that has to be got out there it is ‘GET TESTED’ and regularly, if you have multiple partners and are taking risks”. According to the figures more than a quarter of people with HIV in the UK are undiagnosed. All the more reason, then, for sexually active Londoners to make it their business to get tested.

The general theme for World Aids Day this year is: ”Stop AIDS: Keep the Promise.” Each year, a related theme is highlighted, so the 2010 theme is “Universal Access and Human Rights” – a call to action to improve access to HIV care and treatment.

This message is presumably a global one, because once you look beyond the UK the picture is bleak. Our stats pale into insignificance when you look at what is going on globally – in sub-Saharan Africa, one in ten adults — more than 28 million people — are living with HIV/Aids. ONE IN TEN!!! HOLY SHIT.

The battle to defeat HIV/Aids is still “robbing communities and nations of their greatest asset — their people. That is why providing HIV treatment is critical in keeping people with HIV/Aids alive and active in their communities. This should not be seen as a cost, but as an investment”, says an article in the paper today.

Stigma and discrimination are barriers that limit access to treatment, and donations are not a sustainable way to address chronic diseases. Without the necessary healthcare infrastructure, medicines do not reach those who need them, no matter how low prices become. And there are patients in Africa being denied medicines due to the illegal diversion of low-priced HIV/Aids medicines into higher-priced European markets.

The number of people receiving treatment is still tragically low. More commitment is needed from every stakeholder — more political commitment, more research and development, more funding and most importantly EDUCATION is required to reduce the ignorance.

There is much to be done.