This is not the 80s

HIV is no longer a death sentence but a chronic and manageable condition because effective live-saving Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) prevents HIV from progressing to AIDS. Today, People living with HIV (PLHIV) lead long, meaningful and healthy lives, enjoy safe and satisfying sex, safely have children, and pursue their dreams like other people.

Furthermore, life expectancy has improved and PLHIV are increasingly living well beyond 50 years of age (PLHIV50+), HIV-related mortality has decreased tremendously, and most importantly, People with HIV who have sustained, undetectable levels of HIV in the blood cannot pass the virus on to their sexual partner.

As an HIV charity, PositivelySharing focuses on helping PLHIV self- manage their conditions. We are also keen to ensure that kith and kin and the wider community positively contribute directly, remotely or otherwise to the lives of people living with a condition that is still widely misunderstood. Our mission also includes bridging the HIV knowledge gap by promoting sexual health literacy and conversations around sexual health in general and HIV in particular.

We want to break the silence surrounding HIV and sexual health, burst myths, dispel ignorance and stereotypes by sharing information about HIV transmission modes and biomedical advances, increase knowledge about the damaging effects of stigma and discrimination, among others. Therefore, we promise to bring you news on HIV advances and treatment, stories from people living openly with the virus and lots more.

Allow us, in the first instance, to share the following with you: Today

-the AIDS epidemic has transitioned from the plague of the 80s; HIV is now a manageable condition;

-people are living with HIV and are no longer dying of AIDS;

– the acronym AIDS is less commonly used today because effective treatment prevents HIV from progressing to AIDS;

-pastors are focusing more on love and acceptance than on blaming ‘sinners;

-ARVs are provided free of charge in almost all countries in the world;

-the emergency treatment Post Exposure prophylaxis (PEP) prevents HIV infection if taken no more than three days (72 hours) or, better still, 24 hours after exposure to the HIV virus;

-Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) are tablets HIV negative people can take before sex to prevent themselves from becoming HIV positive; and lastly

-U=U, Undetectable = Untransmittable: a person living with HIV who has an undetectable viral load cannot transmit the virus to their partner.

 

Let’s create change together

Myths and misconceptions create unfounded fear and fear holds us back. However, education and awareness will move us forward. Simply put, knowledge about HIV will produce an understanding of how damaging HIV stigma and discrimination is, how harmful ignorance and misinformation can be and how important educating ourselves to change our thinking and actions is.  Armed with education, we can come together to fight the disease by sharing facts and not myths and misconception, showing compassion and not indifference and by stopping the spread of rumours.  All these acts will help us positively contribute to empowering our communities.