Cause for celebration
It’s 25 years to the month since the first reported cases of HIV. In
that time,
25 million have died from Aids-related illnesses and today an estimated 40
million worldwide are living with the virus. For those who’ve survived
the last two-and-a-half decades, there has been little cause for celebration.
To call it an anniversary is misleading. Anniversaries are occasions for happiness
and celebration. So then, how should Positive Nation mark a quarter of a century
of the human immunodeficiency virus? We decided we could only celebrate by
turning the spotlight on the living, with a special bumper feature and photoshoot.
And while few wish to celebrate HIV, there are many millions who owe their
lives to the advent of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), which
also happens to be ten years old this month. Thanks to that breakthrough,
many people are still with us who otherwise would not have been. Now that
is something to celebrate.
Those sharing their stories for our special feature (pg 18) also demonstrate
how diverse the HIV epidemic has become in the UK: young, old, black, white,
gay, straight. But despite this diversity, all those who agreed to be photographed
have a couple of things in common; inner-strength in dealing with and living
with an HIV diagnosis and great courage in standing up to be counted in the
pages of this magazine.
People living with HIV have travelled a long way in the last 25 years and
in developed countries like the UK there have been some in-roads into challenging
the stigma and prejudice faced by people with the virus. But what about the
next 25 years? Right now there is little hope of a cure and a vaccine seems
only a distant prospect. But we can still hope: hope for better and more tolerable
drugs; hope for a vaccine; hope for universal access; hope for a cure, and
last but not least, hope for a world without stigma where HIV is seen for
what it is, a virus that makes you sick, not a bag of moral judgements and
an excuse for prejudice and discrimination.
Yet another prosecution
The judiciary banged yet another nail in the coffin of HIV prevention last
month with the jailing of Sarah Jane Porter, 43, for recklessly transmitting
HIV to her lover. Few could have escaped the widespread disgraceful and inaccurate
reporting on this case, triggered in no small part by a Metropolitan Police
press release which wrongly stated that she was convicted of deliberate (rather
than reckless) transmission. This case raises particular concern as the Met
also appear to have launched an investigation to find the sexual partners
of Ms Porter to see if she had infected anybody with HIV. I’m beginning
to lose count of how many people have been jailed for passing on HIV since
I became editor in April 2004. But I’m not at all confused about the
fear and anxiety that spreads rapidly among people living with HIV every time
someone is jailed for passing on the virus.
PN has enormous sympathy for Ms Porter’s ex-partner who, like Ms Porter
and thousands of others, is having to come to terms with an HIV diagnosis.
He too now has to face the stigma heaped upon people living with this serious
medical condition.
This case throws up so many questions: if Ms Porter was in denial about her
HIV why didn’t she get appropriate support to help come to terms with
her diagnosis? And why do Lambeth Police think it was OK to pull Ms Porter
out of the Mildmay Hospital at the start of their investigation? It’s
time people with HIV got some answers.
Amanda Elliot, managing editor
