COLLECTED STORIES FROM INTERNET

I was in a long-term relationship when I was diagnosed. I was faithful but my partner wasn’t. One day he called me to tell me that I needed to get tested, so I did. Next thing I know I am living with HIV.

It has now been 6 years since I was diagnosed, at the time I really thought it would be the end for me. I felt that if I told someone that I was positive, they would judge me and look at me differently. So I kept my illness secret for about 3 years, but keeping it a secret made me feel isolated from the world. I thought that no one would accept me or my situation, and so it stopped me from being able to find someone that I could trust at all. There are so many stereotypes around HIV and they make life so much harder. It is tempting to just keep your status a secret.

Now I know that when it comes to HIV, it is not the illness that makes life hard but the struggle of dealing with everybody else’s perceptions of it. Stigma meant that for a long time I only thought about fear, worry and death. It was horrible and meant that at first I lost all hope that I would be able to really live my life. But now I know that if we were to change the way we think about HIV, finding a way to view it more positively, we would treat the people with the illness much better, and it would make the world a much better place to live.

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But what' s our role in helping to decrease the number of HIV cases in the world? We all have a role to play by following the strategies to reduce the risk of HIV infection, which include abstaining from premarital sex, limiting your number of sexual partners if you indulge in sexual activity, never sharing contaminated needles, and proper use of condoms. Chief most, having regular blood checks can help one take charge of their status.

We live in a completely independent world, which simply means we can not escape each other. How we respond to AIDS depends ,in part, on wether we understand this independence. It is not someone else’s problem. This is everybody’s problem!Let’s keep acknowledging the existence of HIV/AIDS and the related implications. Let's fight against HIV/AIDS infection, stigma and discrimination. Let’s say no to AIDS.

Together, we can !