Watch This: “HIV is Just a Part of Me” Campaign

Photo Credits: Screengrab from HIV is: Just a Part of Me YouTube

A new campaign called HIV is: just a part of me launched recently raises awareness on various health issues that an HIV positive person may face as they age with the virus. Further, it also aims “to encourage HIV positive men to take steps to live a long and healthy life.”

“HIV is: just a part of me” is an initiative of Gilead Sciences. It was in conjunction with various HIV organizations like Plus Onlus (Italy), BASELINE (UK), and ARDHIS (France), to name a few.

Eleven HIV positive gay men from all across Europe, all currently on treatment, participated in said campaign. It entailed shooting photos and videos and removing the participants’ top so an artist could draw and “highlight different body parts that can be affected by ‘comorbidities’.” Diseases and conditions highlighted in the HIV is: just a part of me campaign included type II diabetes, mental health, osteoporosis, among others.

One of the men who participated was Bisi, 42 years old. He was originally from Nigeria though his circumstances brought him to London. When he was diagnosed as HIV positive, he had to come out of the closet. It was the start of the bullying and physical attack which he endured many times, he even got arrested. In Nigeria, being gay is not only constitutionally criminal, it is also socially unacceptable. In the campaign video, Bisi encourages HIV patients to take care of their kidneys because “a healthy kidney helps to manage your HIV virus,” he says. He also urges people to “take an active role in their own health care,” adding, “you know your body and you know what works best for you.” In conclusion, Bisi says, “HIV is just a part of me because it has given me the opportunity to be in control of my health, to know my body better, and to live positively fabulous.”

There’s also Graeme, 32, from Liverpool, in the UK. According to Graeme, “Living with HIV can be difficult but it’s given me the opportunity to reboot and rethink my life in a way that I never thought possible before HIV.” He admitted that before HIV he wasn’t looking after himself. After being diagnosed however, he learned how to come to terms with his borderline personality disorder and depression, learned how to talk about it. In the campaign, he emphasizes self-care and tells HIV patients to see their clinicians and counselors, everything that will help with recovery. Graeme says, “HIV is just a part of me because I’m a brother, I’m an uncle, I’m a creative, I’m a public speaker. There is more to me than this virus.”

Wojciech on the other hand, is 71 years old and his body art highlights bone health. He is from Poland and was previously married during what he refers to as his first life. On his second life, he says, he had a nice boyfriend when he was sent to Mexico for work but later on when he broke up with him, the guy admitted to being HIV positive and told Wojciech to get tested himself. Naturally, Wojciech was devastated when the diagnosis came but things got better for him when a “very nice man in Poland called every HIV positive person in Poland to meet together.” Wojciech stayed with them for two weeks, slept together with them on the floor of the Ministry of Health. He says it was “very fun and very good for me because I wanted to know the people who were in the same situation like me.” Wojciech added that HIV is just a part of him because he caught it many years ago and he is still alive.

Paolo, 31, is from Italy but he lives in Portugal now. His HIV diagnosis came when he was 23, ten days before he was supposed to leave for Brazil to study on a scholarship. Paolo is firmly believes that, “People will acknowledge that we exist, that we live, and we are exactly as anybody else.” He says positively, “We’re here. We’re also queer sometimes and we’re still alive and we’re doing well and we can go much further than we’ve been doing until now.” His pair of lungs is very important to him so he tried to quit smoking several times. So far he has managed to dramatically reduce his nicotine intake and cigarette consumption daily. He encourages those who haven’t started smoking yet to not start the habit at all. In conclusion, Paolo says, “HIV is just a part of me because it has affected many things in my life but not the way I am.”

Click here for further information regarding the campaign. You may also click here to watch the rest of the videos.