Have we stopped taking HIV critically?

The latest Nationwide Aids Trust figures also unveiled that 21,900 folks in the United kingdom are unaware they are infected with the virus. Every one of us, gay or straight, is aware when we have unsafe intercourse that we place ourselves at threat of a sexually transmitted illness, HIV integrated. Or are we? Does it cross our minds as much as it did a generation in the past? Is it a lack of understanding, an “it could by no means take place to me” mentality or a “no-1 dies from it these days” belief that’s trying to keep a percentage of the population from practicing secure intercourse?

Like numerous men, I spend income on ensuring I appear and really feel very good – good garments, excellent grooming merchandise, gym membership and a dose of monthly acupuncture. That is the external side of items taken care of, but I’m also really aware of the importance of the inner, and that consists of looking after my sexual wellness. Following some reckless behaviour in my 20s and those sweat-inducing waits for check final results, I came to realise just how important my sexual well being was. HIV could take place to me. Cancer could take place to me. Why would I be diverse to anyone else? Although cancer is somewhat out of my control, exposing myself to HIV is firmly in my energy.

Some individuals are much more cautious nevertheless. A gay friend of mine enquires about the HIV status of every guy he dates early on. He’s an anomaly, as most folks locate that a extremely intrusive and confrontational question, but why shouldn’t we all be so open? With men and women out there oblivious to the reality they are contaminated and other folks practicing unsafe intercourse, it would seem a honest query.

A guy I when dated responsibly informed me of his positive standing right after 3 dates. We hadn’t slept together and we never did. I truthfully couldn’t manage it.

But other folks are not so mindful. It is human nature to take dangers. We smoke, we drink, we get medication and we (not every person, granted) meet random strangers for intercourse through apps on our phones. Grindr, Scruff, Blendr, Tingle – consider your choose and you’re a couple of mobile phone taps away from no-strings sex. Arguably it’s never ever been simpler for a gay guy to locate a inclined sexual companion. That may well go some way to explaining why the number of new HIV circumstances between gay/bi males is at a record degree, but arguably it truly is also partly simply because the dangers of AIDS and HIV have to some extent disappeared from the broader public consciousness. The risk of contracting HIV is no longer so visible, in spite of the truth that 80 per cent of gay males know an individual residing with HIV (compared to sixteen per cent of the general population).

A couple of decades ago, public awareness campaigns on AIDS and HIV have been omnipresent, with figures like Elton John and Liz Taylor raising hundreds of thousands to spread the message. Go back even more, and there was the terrifying “AIDS: never die of ignorance” campaign, launched in 1987, with data leaflets being delivered to each home in Britain.

In the absence of these high-profile campaigns or compulsory intercourse education it is now up to us as people to educate ourselves and these about us about HIV.

Although creating this piece, I asked a 38 yr old (straight) good friend, who admits to getting taken many hazards with his sexual wellness in his 20s, how numerous HIV exams he had had. I was shocked at his response: “none”. Asked why, he explained he had stored meaning to do so but was truthfully as well afraid to discover out. He had put it to the back of his mind, until I asked.

Having an undiagnosed illness like HIV can have devastating consequences for a person’s well being as nicely as rising the danger of them passing HIV on to their partner or partners. Our sexual wellness is our obligation, to protect not only ourselves but also people we pick to have intercourse with.

My buddy is possessing a HIV check as quickly as feasible.

Have we stopped taking HIV critically?