Aids Concern Hong Kong says comments about HIV-positive Charlie Sheen have been 'unhelpful and misguided'

Some of the reaction to American actor Charlie Sheen’s disclosure that he is HIV-positive has been “unhelpful and misguided”, a local health concern group said on Thursday, as it expressed concern that it could worsen the stigma of patients with the condition.

Aids Concern Hong Kong also stressed that no one should be forced to be publicly disclose their private health condition through the media, “and certainly not as a result of blackmail”, as was the case with Sheen.

“There are some people saying that getting HIV is a just and natural punishment for people who they say have got caught up in drugs and sex,” said a spokeswoman from the group.

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“This is a strange and unhelpful thing to say. When people are in bad situations, they often need help to get out of those situations. How can it be good to wish ill health on people?”

“People who get infected are very varied. Sometimes it is one episode of unsafe sex with a regular girlfriend or boyfriend. This talk also makes the stigma of HIV even worse.”

She rejected suggestions that people who have sex without a condom but in the knowledge that they are HIV-positive should face criminal prosecution – a heated subject of discussion following Sheen’s revelation.

While she said Aids Concern always advises people to use condoms when having sex, the criminalisation approach risks stopping people from testing for HIV and seeking treatment, putting more people at risk.