Today (1 December) is World AIDS Day, and to celebrate, New Zealand’s leading HIV peer support organisation has released “I’m Healthy, and I Live with HIV” – a new video campaign to highlight that despite facing a myriad of challenges, people living with HIV can, and should, live quality, healthy lives.
Body Positive Executive Director, Mark Fisher, says “There is no cure for HIV. People with HIV live with it for life so if we want to achieve an Aotearoa New Zealand where HIV transmission is eliminated, we firstly need the 3,600 people who live with HIV in this country, to live healthy lives free from stigma and discrimination, and be able to stay that way.
“The idea behind this “I’m Healthy, and I live with HIV” campaign is to demonstrate that when living with HIV you can live well, but it does mean you have to overcome some special challenges to staying that way.”
“Engaging in effective HIV treatment is essential to living a healthy life, where viral load is undetectable you can maintain a healthy immune system and there is zero risk of passing HIV to sexual partners [U=U]. While modern treatment is highly effective when taken as prescribed, compared to the rest of the world, the treatment options currently available in New Zealand are very limited and for many people, don’t address the complex challenges they face living with HIV,” Fisher adds.
“Pill burden, treatment resistance, fatigue, stigma, discrimination, mental health, social circumstances are all very real, complex challenges that impact on a person’s ability to stay engaged with their treatment.”
“We would welcome offering a broader choice of treatment to make it easier for people who are HIV positive to start treatment earlier and to stay on treatment. Like an HIV diagnosis, HIV treatment is for life, which is why we need to ensure individuals have the best
treatment for them. Supporting our 3,600 New Zealanders by providing options will help the elimination of HIV transmission and empower them to lead a healthy life – a life which everyone deserves to have.”
For more information on the new campaign, CLICK HERE!
