December 1 was International AIDS Day. Better prevention, more effective treatment, many advances make life easier for people living with HIV.
When Olivier* learned that he was infected with HIV, it was a dozen years ago. “On the occasion of a discovery of syphilis, I took the opportunity to ask my doctor to take an HIV test down the road because I hadn’t done it in maybe two years. And there I come across a laboratory, with absolute delicacy, which he calls me back to ask me to take a test again. And that he refuses to give me the result. So this non-answer, I knew what it meant because it wasn’t even me on my first test. And this “I won’t tell you” strategy is still an answer more complicated to receive”remember.
After the announcement, it took Olivier more than a year to start treatment. Because if in 2010 the returns on the latter already reflected an effectiveness in the fight against the transmission of the virus, the complications of the past have remained firmly anchored in the spirit of the gay community.
Treatment apprehension
“In my reflection, I still had the image of what the treatments were like a few years ago, of their difficult side to live with, difficult to follow. Suddenly I had some brakeshe continues. And this, even if I was informed of the reduction in transmission risks and knew that if I took the treatment, I would stop worrying about every sexual encounter.
Eventually, it will be a year and a half after she takes the first pill. Not without difficulty. “I think I put it on the table and stood in front of it for at least thirty minutes. Because I knew the moment I took it, it would be the beginning and it wouldn’t end until the day we knew. we of HIV. But I am an irredeemable optimist. I am 51 years old, I am convinced that I will die cured of HIV”Oliver says.
After several treatment changes due to side effects, “some have decreased my ability to concentrate”he points out, clinical advances now allow him to take only four or five pills a week. “with a weekend break, which is good for morale”the 50-year-old admits.
A good quality of life despite the stigma
Improvements that offer him a real quality of life, despite HIV, even if the stigma around the virus or AIDS persists. “It’s still there in certain cases, in certain moments of your life. Like access to certain jobs. I don’t know if it ended up evolving, but for a long, long time, wanting to join the military, for a For an HIV positive person it’s very complicated, if not impossible. Even going to work in certain countries is still complicated because you have to have your blood drawn and then have the pills in your suitcase”.list.
A reality that is sometimes complicated to manage, which however does not detract from Olivier’s optimism. “For me I’m not sick. Today, and because I found out in 2010 and not in 90 that I have HIV, it hasn’t fundamentally disrupted my life. But what remains complicated, is that even today we have friends who leave. So, we don’t go to the cemetery every week anymore, maybe not even every year, but we still occasionally have some friends whose bodies were badly damaged in the 90’s and who held out until then, but finally let go “.regrets.
