Before You Discuss Sheen’s or Anybody’s HIV Status PLEASE Read This
Introduction from the Publisher, Adam Gonzalez: I decided that before posting a picture of Charlie Sheen which everyone knows how he looks by now or how the HIV cells look under the microscope I would do two things. First place a warning sign that everyone recognizes and then a warning.
Secondly, the Warning:
The yellow and black sign is the universal sign of contamination through radiation. HIV= radiation, No is……..Ignorance=radiation
The worse thing anybody can do in reference to HIV be one that is HIV+ or the one that thinks he/she is not, is to start talking about it before getting educated on the subject and I will explain why and why this is no hype. Watching what people were posting in all the available social media on Tuesday after the HIV coming out of Sheen, made me sick. Mostly all of it it was back to 1984. It was like we have learn nothing. I have a lot to say but I wont say it. Instead I will post an introduction on HIV/ stigma and then a posting by Lambda Legal Services.
After years of writing and educating people of new treatment meds and the HIV 101 basics, it is disheartening to see postings from what seems like idiots who thought they had something to say and had to say it or they were going to miss out in history or something to that idea. The problem with this is not as much as what they say but that they are saying something. Why? For the same reason the virus keeps replicating not so much because the virus is so smart but that we are so dumb in dealing with it.
Why? The reason the virus mostly replicates millions of replicas in people is because people don’t test, don’t find out, don’t become undetectable. Why undetectable? Self explanatory, the less you have the less to transmit.
What is that got to do with anything? When people that should be getting tested to find out and if positive and then enter treatment right away, they instead don’t test! Why? Why test. If this is the stigma attached no just to the decease but to the people that test, Would you test? Do you think someone close to you would test and be tagged positive, AIDS carrier, etc? If you don’t test HIV+ people wont think wrongly of you and they don’t have to explain anything. Even legally they could be off the hook in certain places. Is it better to be the giver in world of hurt than the one that receives. The reason that the disease has been control in certain areas and out of control in others is testing and finding out, then getting control of it through a meds regimen.
It was sad seeing some people that have been positive coming out again and saying they were in a futile attempt to control the fear mongering and misinformation that I saw today.
The times I tested in the past for HIV if I would have thought I was going to be positive Im not sure I would have not tested. I always thought I was going to be negative and I think a lot of people think that way. The people that do test are in many instances are those showing signs of sickness and by then a lot of damaged has been done to that person’s immune system and to others that came in contact with someone who became positive and was not tested. Usually when a person test positive they have the most amount of virus in their system. The virus can move in with their whole family since your immune system doesn’t know they are there yet; Therefore this is when they are the most susceptible to transmit.
Those two points explained I will leave it here and instead I will give you the article that appeared in Lambda Legal last night. I think is good advice for those that have tested positive and to those that should be getting tested and their love ones.
Advice from the senior attorney and HIV Project national director of Lambda Legal:
By now, you likely are aware that actor Charlie Sheen disclosed on the Today show this morning that he is living with HIV. Regardless of the reasons for this public disclosure at this time, Lambda Legal recognizes that coming out as someone living with HIV is an extremely personal decision and not an easy step for anyone.
We hope that Mr. Sheen’s announcement will advance the conversation about HIV and AIDS in this country. As an organization committed to protecting the civil rights of people living with HIV, here are some things people should keep in mind as this is discussed in the coming days.
First, HIV is not the disease it was 25 years ago. With access to care and treatment—and the support needed to take advantage of those services—a person living with HIV can lead a healthy, productive life of near-normal length. A person who is diagnosed early and has consistent access to care and treatment has a life expectancy that is only a handful of months shy of a person without HIV.
Second, the chances of transmission from a single sexual contact are much smaller than most people imagine. Even the sexual activity with the highest risk—receptive anal sex—results in transmission less than 2% of the time. And that is without taking into account use of prevention technologies, such as condoms, “treatment as prevention,” or pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP).
Third, with successful treatment, the chance of transmission between sexual partners is likely zero. Last year, preliminary results of a study that documented approximately 30,000 sex acts within couples of mixed HIV status, where the HIV-positive partner had a suppressed viral load due to treatment, showed no transmissions of HIV. These preliminary results are in line with an earlier study that at first documented a 96% reduction in the already low per-act risk of transmission, and was recently updated to reflect the fact that not a single transmission could be linked to an HIV-positive partner with a suppressed viral load.
That’s an additional reason why it is so important to learn your status and seek treatment if you are living with HIV. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has expanded access to health insurance to millions of Americans, reducing the healthcare access problems that plague communities of color, people with low incomes and other marginalized populations. Eliminating the HIV-related disparities that result from unequal access to care is a primary reason that Lambda Legal has been doing work to ensure the continuing viability of the ACA in every state, and Lambda Legal’s Know Your Rights: HIV hub has information about obtaining access to care if you—or your partner—has tested positive for HIV.
Safer sex is a shared responsibility, and new prevention tools are being developed to make a healthy sex life easier than ever. In 2012, the FDA approved HIV-negative people’s use of an antiretroviral HIV medication (Truvada) as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), to prevent the acquisition of HIV. Research shows that taking PrEP seven days a week is nearly 100% effective at preventing HIV. PrEP is a game changer, because it provides a prevention method that is entirely within the control of the HIV-negative individual and helps to balance the scales of prevention responsibility. And new and improved prevention technologies are on the way!
Finally, it’s essential to realize that shaming or punishing a person, regardless of whether it is a celebrity or an everyday Joe/Jane, who gets tested and knows they are HIV-positive but does not disclose that private medical information to others—for any number of very legitimate reasons—is not the way to address the HIV/AIDS epidemic in this country. Public health officials agree:
The National HIV/AIDS Strategy asks us to “tackle misperceptions, stigma and discrimination to break down barriers to HIV prevention, testing, and care.” The CDC unequivocally asserts that HIV “stigma hampers prevention,” and according to a report by the U.S. Department of Justice, “the stigma associated with HIV remains extremely high and fear of discrimination causes some Americans to avoid learning their HIV status, disclosing their status, or accessing medical care.” While voluntary disclosure of one’s HIV-positive status (when it is safe to do so) is considered a best practice by public health officials, encouraging both partners to take appropriate measures to prevent HIV transmission is the best way to keep everyone healthy, happy and sexually fulfilled.
To answer general questions about HIV testing, disclosure, privacy, discrimination and more, check out Lambda Legal’s Know Your Rights: HIV. For more specific questions, contact our Help Desk.
By Scott Schoettes who is the
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