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No Shame About Being HIV+
Anvil Jersey T-shirt
- Sizes YXS - XXXL
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About this campaign
Globally, there are an estimated 37 million people that are living with HIV and 1.2 million of them are in the United States. In 2015, 40,000 new HIV diagnoses were reported and although HIV isn’t a leading cause of death for Americans overall, it is for certain age and demographic groups. In 2014, for example, HIV was the 8th leading cause of death for those aged 25-34 and 9th for those aged 35-44.
But get this: according to the HIV Care Continuum, with data derived from the CDC, only 86 percent of the 1.2 million people living with HIV were diagnosed. To put in simply: 1 in 7 people living with HIV don't even know they are positive.
This means they're not accessing the necessary care and treatment to stay healthy and reduce the likelihood of transmitting the virus to their partners. Of the people who do know they're positive, only a staggering 40 percent are engaged in care, and only 30 percent are virally suppressed. But it doesn't have to be that way.
So why are there still so many people dying from HIV, afraid to access care, or even get tested? STIGMA.
The World Health Organization cites fear of stigma and discrimination as the main reason why people are reluctant to get tested, disclose their HIV status, and take antiretroviral drugs. We know how to prevent, test for, and treat HIV to keep people healthy. But stigma still stands in the way. That shouldn’t be happening in 2017.
In 2013, as a way to tear down the wall of stigma, fear, and shame surrounding HIV, I started the “No Shame About Being HIV+” campaign. The idea was born when I saw an image of Chelsea Clinton holding the sign above with the message on it for the Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. This one message in a broad messaging campaign resonated with me, so I held up the same sign and shared my story on Facebook, encouraging other friends to do the same. The message and stories that went along with this one message went viral.
A year after launching the storytelling campaign I launched the “No Shame About Being HIV-Positive” t-shirt campaign to go along with it. To date, I have sent over 1k shirts to people across the globe. The anti-stigma message is empowering to people living with HIV and they wear them at domestic and international conferences, AIDS walks, pride parades, out to dinner on a Friday night, and other public and private events.
Since the beginning of the campaign, over 800 people living with HIV from 15 countries have shared their story on the RiseUpToHIV Facebook page. Think about it: the once taboo topic has hit about 5.2 million Facebook timelines around the world in 2016.
Funds raised in this booster campaign will help sustain RiseUpToHIV anti-stigma initiatives.
Through this campaign, I feel that we’ve have really made progress when it comes to shattering the stigma of HIV. But the stigma is still there and stigma kills. Because of stigma, people do not get tested for HIV or they don’t take their medications. They don’t talk about it and suffer from mental health issues. They wind up in the hospital near death or simply die in silence. In order to keep hammering away at this stigma, we must keep the conversation going. And what better way to start a conversation than wearing a t-shirt declaring your truth?
If you are on Facebook, Instagram, and/or Twitter, be sure to upload a picture in your shirt and use the hashtag #RiseUpToHIV. Follow us @RiseUpToHIV and we'll follow you. We look forward to seeing you and hearing your stories.
Let's end HIV stigma, together, once and for all.
Comments
Share Why You Support "No Shame About Being HIV+"
Supporters
Because we have to end HIV stigma
to create poz visibility in my community
I am the HIVegan Guru :) We all must stick together and fight the stigma. And I love you! Namasté
This has been my saying for 25 years. Long before you made it a national campaign
25 years positive and undetectable
Kevin has done a great job of breaking down barriers, heaven knows here in Chattanooga they need to be broken down.