AIDS Walk: Organizers shift focus to helping HIV survivors thrive

published on September 25, 2016 by Nick Eagland, in The Province

An annual charity walk Sunday in support of people living with HIV in B.C. has changed its theme for 2016 to focus on boosting its benefactors’ health and happiness.

In its 31st year, the event has changed its name to the Scotiabank AIDS WALK to tHrIVe. Its goal has shifted beyond helping people to survive with HIV to helping them thrive, said Neil Self, chair of Positive Living B.C.

“There’s a sort of misconception out there that HIV is over and you just need to take these pills and you’re fine,” said Self, who was diagnosed with HIV 27 years ago. “Unfortunately, that’s really not the case. For one thing, a lot of people affected by HIV have a lot of complex medical issues or complex social issues.”

While new diagnoses of HIV in B.C. have steadily decreased in recent years to an average of 5.6 per 100,000 population in 2015, “areas of big concern” are young gay men who continue to become infected and Aboriginal communities that are becoming infected at high rates, Self said.

The Momentum Health Study, run by the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, found that one in five gay and bisexual men in Greater Vancouver is living with HIV.

Aboriginal peoples comprised 11-17 per cent of all new HIV diagnoses while comprising only about five per cent of B.C.s’ total population, according to a 2014 report from the B.C. Centre for Disease Control.

“There’s a lot of people out there still living with this disease,” Self said. “Our membership is still growing and luckily we’re not losing our members like we did 20 years ago — they’re not dropping off the face of the Earth because of the disease.”

But there are long-term health impacts and side effects from the powerful cocktail of drugs those with HIV take, Self said. Many infected with the virus face stigma and isolation. There is still no cure for HIV and AIDS.

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Epidemiology and Population Health

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AIDS Walk: Organizers shift focus to helping HIV survivors thrive

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