Im very pleased to announce today that I reached an agreement with the DA because I always maintained that Im innocent and the allegations against me have never been proven Patricia de Lille (David Harrison/M&G)
Why did actor Charlie Sheen have to pay blackmailers millions of dollars to keep quiet about his HIV status? And why did he only have the courage to announce his status this week, four years after he was diagnosed with HIV?
The answer is simple. And painful, because HIV is still one of the most stigmatised conditions in the world – despite the fact that it’s no longer a death sentence and that antiretrovirals have ensured it’s now relatively simple to manage this chronic condition.
Many this week wanted Sheen to disclose how he’d contracted the virus. The reality is: most people who get HIV don’t know how they got it – even if they’ve had multiple sexual partners and used drugs, like Sheen.
Approximately 6.8-million people in South Africa – almost one out of every five adults between 15 and 49 years of age – is infected with HIV. Many of them can’t even tell their closest friends and family members about it, because they will be judged and labelled as “dirty” and “immoral”.
Such stigma prevents people from getting tested for HIV and getting treatment, which in turn spreads the virus. We should use Sheen’s announcement to learn how to talk about HIV infection with more sensitivity and accuracy. As the website slate.com put it this week: “You know someone with HIV. You don’t know who it is. They are watching your reaction to Charlie Sheen.”
It might even be you. Have you been tested for HIV?