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The audience at amfAR enjoy Hong Kong’s glittering third annual gala, in 2017. March 25 marks the fifth. Photo: Handout

Letters | Aids is not a ‘gay disease’, and charities pushing for a cure need all the support in the world

  • HIV is no longer a death sentence for those able to afford antiretroviral drugs, but it remains so for millions of people unable to access these medicines
Wellness
The news that the “London patient” has become the second person to remain free of HIV, after coming off antiretroviral drugs following stem cell treatment for his Hodgkin’s lymphoma cancer, is marvellous.
As Hong Kong is about to host the amfAR gala fundraising dinner tonight (March 25), it is worth remembering that, away from the glitter of the evening, The Foundation for Aids Research has, since its inception in 1985, raised over half a billion US dollars and awarded more than 3,300 grants to research teams around the world.
The courage of the late Dr Mathilde Krim, amfAR’s founding chairman, and Dame Elizabeth Taylor, founding international chairman, to fight an illness that, despite being known as the “gay disease”, has devastated the lives of millions, regardless of their sexual orientation, is remarkable.

While HIV is no longer a death sentence for those able to afford their antiretroviral drug treatment, it remains so for millions of people unable to access these medicines. Local charities may lack the fanfare of amfAR, but they are equally vital in the link – ensuring that regional sufferers have access to testing and treatment.

In Myanmar, The Angus McDonald Trust, an HIV-focused charity I support, informed me that my “donation covered the entire programme of sending 40 children to school, as well as providing a framework for them to access their [antiretroviral therapy] drugs, managing their holistic care (counselling, nutritional support) and supplying home-based visits.”

HIV isn’t a gay disease; of those 40 children, one is eight years old! With the help of us all, and with amfAR continuing its commitment to a “Countdown to a Cure for Aids”, we will end this blight on humanity once and for all.

Mark Peaker, The Peak

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