How does HIV change your life?
World AIDS Day takes place on December 1 annually. (Getty)
Today is World AIDS Day, which aims to bring awareness to the ongoing AIDs epidemic and honour those who have died of the disease.
While many might think the AIDS crisis is firmly in the past, the World Health Organisation estimates that approximately 40 million people globally were living with HIV (the infection that causes AIDS) in 2023.
Progress in medical treatment has led to 77% of those living with HIV receiving antiretroviral therapy, and of those receiving treatment, 72% had suppressed viral loads – meaning they can’t pass the virus on to others.
HIV is manageable with effective prevention, treatment, and care, much more so than it was in the 80s, and reduced stigma has led to those who have the disease feeling much more comfortable seeking medical care and disclosing their status.
But, despite this, HIV fundamentally changes someone’s life. It can be difficult to deal with, but many people living with HIV also have a positive outlook on life.
John Jaquiss, 69, and Sebastian Rotaru, 31, are both HIV-positive.
Rotaru was diagnosed with HIV when he was 16 while Jaquiss was diagnosed at the age of 45, so both have been living with HIV for several years.
Speaking to Pink News, Jaquiss said: “They took me into a room and sat me down, and they put the tissues down by the side of me and they said, ‘Is it what you’re expecting? It’s a positive result’, and I said, ‘Well no, I wasn’t’.”
“I was shocked. I had this protective mechanism and I went into what I call ‘business mode’. I said ‘I want to know what I need to do to keep fit and well’ because I’d seen so many of my friends die. It was a scary moment. Although treatment was around [back then], I didn’t expect to be here today,” he continued.
Remembering the day he was diagnosed, Rotaru said it was a “sad day”.
“I was living back in Romania at the time, so I went to a private clinic, a private lab, and got a test. When the results came, I just went to the clinic, they handed me an envelope and that was it. When I saw ‘HIV-positive’, I was in shock,” Rotaru said.
“The next day, things had shifted. It was, ‘Okay, this has happened, I have nothing I can change now, I can only look to the future and what I can do moving forward to stay healthy and live the happy life I want,” he explained.
Growing up, Rotaru always heard that getting HIV was a death sentence but he was adamant that it wouldn’t happen to him.
Jaquiss and Rotaru both have a “very positive attitude towards life and wanting to enjoy life” despite living with HIV.
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