I am 42 years old and have been living with HIV for 17 years. I discovered I was HIV positive after running a fever for a long time. I went to the hospital; the doctor said that I had a lung infection and ran some X-rays. The fever went on so doctors conducted a series of tests to find the cause, and that's when they checked for HIV.
When the doctor got the report, he spoke very seriously, telling me the diagnosis. Then he asked me: "Are you gay?"
I can't remember whether I answered the question. My feeling was: what does it matter? Why are you asking me this?
After three years I joined Aids Concern as a support service assistant to visit people living with HIV (PLHIV) in hospitals. At that time, the health of most of them was poor and they were very weak. The treatment then was not very good. People discovered their HIV status after it had developed into Aids. Most of the time they could not get out of the hospital. People diagnosed then were mostly middle-aged or elderly. Now they are younger.
At that time I had no idea about HIV or Aids. Before being diagnosed, I had seen a government television programme showing people living with HIV but at the late stage. The message was, "Don't discriminate", but generally the promotion was negative. Recent government messages have been much more positive.
When I was diagnosed, I told some of my best friends but not my family. My friends were very calm and not really surprised.