World Aids Day 2014
I will be wearing my red ribbon with pride this World Aids Day. I now feel no shame about being HIV-positive, but I do know that my journey with this little passenger of mine has taught me a lot. I have learnt to treasure my relationships with the people I love. I have also learnt to live for today and not next year, because if today isn’t good enough, next year certainly won’t be.
I remember with sadness the brilliant people we have lost - lives cut short in their prime. I stand in solidarity with the people living with HIV today - nearly 110,000 of them in the UK alone.
Regardless of whether you are HIV-negative or HIV-positive, we all have the power to end this: to end the suffering of people who do not have access to antiretrovirals; to end the fear around testing that means more people become infected; and to end the stigma around living with the virus that makes it so hard to talk about it.
This World Aids Day I am proud to be speaking at south-west England’s first conference for people living with HIV. As I was diagnosed here in Somerset back in 2007, it feels like my journey has come full circle in many ways. I hope by talking about my life over the past eight years I can help to encourage other people to come out of the shadows and talk about HIV.