Sue, Josh and David are just three members of the HIV Hour team that has featured interviews with charity workers and volunteers, poets and authors, entrepreneurs, migrants, parents and other people telling their stories and sharing their experiences.
What is it like to live with HIV these days? Well, it would be presumptive for us to tell you as there is more than one answer. Over 2,000 people access treatment for their HIV in Brighton & Hove, and each person would have a different answer.
The ‘Gold Standard’, (if that is what we can call living healthily with HIV), is to have an undetectable viral load with less than 40 copies per millilitre of blood, and no co-morbidities, (no other health challenges).
This goal involves taking one anti-retroviral pill or (long-lasting injectable) and maintaining a schedule of blood tests, a minimum of six months apart, to make sure the medication is suppressing the virus to the extent that HIV is “Undetectable”.
Being certain of this, we can confidently, and scientifically, say that we can not pass on HIV to our sexual partners. This means that HIV is “Untransmittable”.
The science behind this is where we get the catchy slogan U=U or “Undetectable equals Untransmittable”. Tell everybody about this.
However, we must be honest and say that some of us take more than one pill a day. And, particularly for what are called “legacy patients” we have comorbidities such as diabetes and earlier ageing to avoid or manage.
According to the Fast Track Cities website, Brighton & Hove reports that 99% of people living with HIV are virally suppressed. This is fantastic news and we should be very proud of our hospitals, clinics, charities, community groups and our citizens for all working together to achieve this.
Looking back at the last 12 months David recalls some of the people he interviewed on the HIV Hour radio show.
“What I love about working for the HIV Hour is to meet and learn from people who are from communities different to my own. For me, one of the most impactful interviews I took part in was that of Robert, who was infected with HIV and Hepatitis C as a child. He received contaminated Factor 8, which was used to treat his Haemophilia B.
“The inquiry into the scandal of contaminated blood revealed that 30,000 people were infected and 2,900 people have subsequently died. What the people affected went through astonished me and made me so angry.
“No amount of money can compensate a person for the pain suffering and grief that people have been put through with this scandal. Thankfully Hep C can be cured now, and HIV is completely treatable, but this does not take away from the struggles that people have had to endure.”
“On a lighter note,” says David, “I have been inspired by some of our guests too. I have met migrants who have made the UK their home and are now thriving members of their communities.
“One was rejected by his family abroad for being gay and now has been adopted by a supportive “Brighton family”, so much so that he is an entrepreneur and philanthropist. Another, a migrant mother has been to university and has obtained a degree and a masters degree, and is working for the NHS”.
Josh adds that over the last year, the HIV hour has been going from strength to strength. Being more visible within the HIV community in Brighton and worldwide. Josh feels that sharing people’s HIV stories is so important for our own well-being as well as educating others.
“The guest that comes to my mind,” Josh says “is Liz, a personal trainer and a trans feminine person who had been diagnosed late, turning her situation into a positive and thriving one since her diagnosis and becoming an HIV advocate within the Sussex area.”
Learning that you are living with HIV can be a catalyst for positive change in your life and that seems to be a theme that we see in many of our HIV-positive guests.
Sue says: “Not only are we talking about the effects of HIV stigma, we are reaching people from all communities living with HIV and saying we hear you we see you and feel your pain too. Together we can fight this, together we aim to get our messages out to everyone.”
The reality of living with HIV today is one of hope and optimism. Yes, we must acknowledge that there have been dark days in the past, but with successful treatment, and the many ways of preventing HIV we can look forward to a future which we once thought was out of reach.
The HIV Hour is broadcast on 97.2 FM and DAB+ radio every first and third Thursday. Click HERE for further details.