British cabinet minister proves there is life after HIV

[Bluebear]

The announcement by former Cabinet minister Chris Smith that he has been HIV positive for 17 years has been hailed by campaigners as proving there is life after diagnosis.

They say it has shown how having access to the right medication, plus eating healthily and staying fit, can enable people with HIV to have normal lives.

Lisa Power, head of policy at The Terrence Higgins Trust, said Mr Smith's announcement "reinforced the message that, although it's not pleasant to live with HIV and that it's certainly worth avoiding getting it, you can live with it."

And Deborah Jack, chief executive of the National Aids Trust, said: "It's a really good example of someone who's living a very full life, doing a very demanding job and who is very physically active. "It does challenge some of the assumptions and stereotypes about people living with HIV, which is really positive." Experts say there are a number of people who had been living with the disease for more than 20 years....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4222747.stm

[Anarcho-Socialist]

1. That's good to know, I am glad he's healthy and thriving n/t

[UdoKier]

2. That's great. Magic Johnson is another one.

So is Andy Bell of Erasure.

The only downside is that young people today have grown up in a time when HIV was not necessarily a life sentence, and may not fear it enough and take precautions that they should. You reading, Andy Sullivan?