The Ugly Truth About HIV

An HIV testing campaign in New York is in big trouble for revealing the ugly truth about having the infection.

It’s main premise is that “when you get HIV, it’s never just HIV.”

Through a video ad it shows sad looking men and talks about the fact that “dozens of diseases” are more likely when people have HIV, “even if you take medications.” They specifically mention osteoporosis, dementia, and anal cancer with some shocking graphics.

This campaign has been called “stigmatizing and sensationalistic” and some gay groups want it pulled off the air. They say that “portraying gay and bisexual men as dispensing diseases is counterproductive” and that it “misses the mark in fairly and accurately representing what it’s like to live with H.I.V./AIDS.”

Other groups are saying “it’s about time”. They are tired of people downplaying the problems that come with HIV and say that ”all attempts to curtail it [HIV infection] via lily-livered nicey-nicey ‘prevention’ tactics have failed.”

Sometimes people are so politically correct that it’s absurd. It is true that HIV is no longer a death sentence if people get treatment. And if they get proper treatment they won’t get AIDS. But the long term effects of being on treatment for the rest of your life are many and a lot of them we are only beginning to learn about now.

The type of medication that is being used now has only been around since about 1995, so people have been on these medications, at most, for fifteen years. Yes, the science behind it is always improving and the side effects are getting less. But what will happen to someone when they are on these drugs for twenty, thirty, forty, or even fifty years? Who knows. But I’m willing to bet it won’t be pretty.

Scare campaigns about HIV came out in the 1980s and were very successful in a lot of places. Now, people have become complacent. They think that HIV just means taking a pill a day and nothing beyond that, but they couldn’t be more wrong.

This campaign may be upsetting, it may be disturbing, but maybe people should accept that it just might be telling the truth.

Contact the author here: mack@morningquickie.com