The people using their 'power' to tackle HIV stigma

A man who has lived with HIV for 12 years is part of a campaign to raise awareness of the stigma associated with the condition.

Aled Osborne, who lives in Bristol, was 24 when he was was told he had contracted the virus after a routine screening.

More than a decade on, he is healthy and leading a fulfilling life thanks to "game changing" medication that suppresses the virus in his system.

Mr Osborne is now fronting a billboard campaign run by Bristol charity Brigstowe to encourage testing and highlight that those with HIV can still lead a healthy life.

The 36-year-old said he was asked by doctors to come in and discuss his results before they delivered the diagnosis.

"I knew something wasn't right", he said.

"I didn't really hear much after I'd been given the result. There was a moment of blankness, then a moment of business."

He added that he remembered thinking: "I don't know how long I'm going to live."

Mr Osborne said that the new campaign would highlight the "incredible" advances in medical science that can prevent HIV from being passed on.

"It's a completely different story than it was before", he said.

Digital billboards are on show at bus stops sharing the experiences of six people across the west for World Aids Day on Sunday.

Sun, who contracted HIV from breastfeeding as a baby is among those featured.

He was told he had the virus when he was 12 and feared for the future.

"It was confusing. I was afraid of death", he said.

He is taking part in the campaign because he wants to make talking about HIV normal after being on the end of "gossip" in school.

"I was supposed to keep it to myself, but what I needed was to talk to people about it."

Emily Cawston contracted the virus in 2016. She said she experienced feelings of "guilt and shame" as she came to terms with her diagnosis.

But she said her life is now full of "joy and wonder" as she raises her six-year-old son and is keen to help educate people about HIV.

"With the medication and the campaign, we've got everything we need to have no more new cases of HIV.

"We've got that power and that is so incredible," she added.

The billboards are on display in Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire.

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