Lets think HIV positive

Medicins Sans Frontiéres, what we in English-speaking Canada call Doctors Without Borders, has an HIV/AIDS awareness slogan, "HIV Positive."

During one international AIDS conference, I looked everywhere to see if I could find this T-shirt with the slogan on it.

The question: Would you wear a T-shirt that would announce you were HIV Positive?

It's not talking about physically being HIV-positive, but it's about attitude.

I've always loved the concept. I like the idea that people can be as positive about finding treatments and a cure for HIV as much as they can be about cancer fundraising.

For some reason, and likely because it was first associated with gay sex and then injection drug use, HIV/AIDS has always carried a stigma. It was seen as a disease that only affected people on the fringe.

But, it's not.

And it needs to be talked about by people infected and their families, friends, partners and communities.

People who are sick shouldn't have to hide it.

Many Canadians who are HIV-positive have no idea. To me that is far scarier than knowing someone who is HIV-positive. Often people would rather not know than be tested and start treatment.

The Ministry of Health announced Tuesday that rapid testing will be provided as a pilot program in Prince Albert. At first I was excited, but currently it's only being offered to people deemed at risk.

I would like to see testing offered to everyone, thus eliminating the idea that only certain people can become HIV-positive. Yes, it is more likely for someone to be infected if they share needles, but unprotected sex with a trusted partner can lead to learning too late they haven't been totally honest.

Like with other diseases, early detection means early treatment and a healthier life. As an added bonus, earlier detection of HIV and treatment also means a decreased chance of transmission.

According to a poster recently released by the Canadian AIDS Society, one in 584 Canadians is HIV-positive. A statistic long used in HIV organizations is one Canadian becomes HIV-positive every two hours.

These statistics alone should be enough to start reducing stigma.

Recently, U.S. President Barack Obama announced the end of the United States protocol of restricting entry for people living with HIV, effective Jan. 4, 2010. The end of government-sponsored stigma against people with HIV will also be a big a positive step to openly discussing the virus.

Knowing there are so many barriers in place for people living with HIV shows the power of many thousands of activists.

"HIV teaches about hope and the human spirit ... people with HIV are amazing," a caseworker said to me recently.

She's right.

So many people with HIV I have met from around the world have amazing inner strength.

In Uganda I met women who would get tested for HIV and then drag their partners in for testing as well. Sometimes their partners would leave them, but they would bring their children in and start everyone on medication.

If these women, who have to carefully budget their money to pay pennies for the bus that takes them to the clinic, can be comfortable with the decision to be tested, then maybe we can too.

While World AIDS Day is a good starting point for discussions, it shouldn't be the end point. Here in Saskatchewan, the HIV rate is only going to increase for the next little while as more people access testing.

As a community we need to encourage people to make healthy decisions and to learn their status. The most important way to protect public health is not by discriminating against those who have HIV, but by openly talking about AIDS.

Then we can all be HIV Positive.

Angela Hill is the Herald's health reporter.

This article first appeared in the Prince Albert Daily Herald Dec. 2