The numbers of people diagnosed with HIV in Ireland last year were higher than they have ever been – including during the ‘80s and the AIDS crisis.
Even though it is widely known that the transmission of HIV cannot happen through handshakes, sharing cutlery or toilet seats, and despite the fact that we have made huge advances in how society talks about sex, sexuality and sexually transmitted diseases, HIV is still rarely spoken about. The stigma of HIV is alive and well and as a result many of those who are HIV positive in Ireland today keep it a closely-guarded secret, some not even sharing their medical condition with friends and family.
In “Documentary on One: The Undetectables” we talk to some of the people who are HIV positive to find out what it is really like to live with HIV in Ireland in 2019.
Michael is a 49 year old gay man. He partied hard and took risks in the burgeoning gay club scene in the late 80s and 90s. In the mid-nineties Michael was diagnosed as HIV positive. He says that HIV has wreaked havoc on his life and while he has recently opened up to the wider community about his HIV Postitive status, he is still suffering from isolation and hostility from parts his own gay community.
Tonie Walsh was a legendary DJ in the 1980s and 1990s. He has been a gay rights activist for years and still suffers the trauma of having lost so many friends and loved ones to AIDS in the era before medication made HIV a controllable condition. Not only that but he is still losing friends to AIDS; people in Ireland are still dying from AIDS related illnesses, despite the medication that is freely available.
In the 1980s AIDS got the nickname ‘the gay plague’. But of hte 492 diganosed with HIV in Ireland in 2017, sex between men accounted for approximately half while a third were are heterosexual people. And though many women in Ireland are HIV positive none, that we could find, were willing to speak openly about living with HIV.
“Josephine” – not her real name – is a 69 year old woman from rural Ireland who has been HIV positive for 20 years. And even though her viral load is undetectable (meaning that she cannot pass on the virus), she has been rejected in friendships and romantic relationships many times because of her HIV Status. She has lost trust in people’s ability not to judge or to gossip.
“Rhona” – also not her real name – is a 51 year old mother who contracted HIV in her twenties. She too feels that she cannot be open about her HIV status to friends or even her teenage daughter. She is in a loving relationship now although her previous relationship broke down because she said that her HIV status became “the elephant in the bedroom”
In this documentary we ask why the numbers of people being diagnosed with this virus are still so high and what is it like for those living with HIV.
Produced by Mary Elaine Tynan and Nicoline Greer
Please note the change in time: Documentary on One: The Undetectables at 2pm.