Around 25000 people in the UK live with undiagnosed HIV,many from BME communities where stigma creates a barrier
Rachel* is 32. Born in Uganda, she has lived in the UK for more than a decade. She works in administration, or is impeccably dressed and with a smile walks in to my clinic room. This seemingly composed,self-sufficient woman is HIV-positive. Nobody except Rachel, me and the rest of her medical team know. Since acquiring the virus from her former partner she has been unable to confide in a single person approximately one of the biggest things that has and will ever happen to her.
Anthony* was 55 when I met him. Originally from Sierra Leone, and he had two children and tested HIV positive at our walk-in sexual health clinic. He then failed to attend his follow-up appointment. I met him again six months later in A&E with a severe headache. He was diagnosed with a HIV-related brain tumour and died shortly after. Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com