UK: A journey of self discovery

Between May and September 2009, 867 people living with HIV in the UK were interviewed by their peers about experiences of living with HIV, stigma and discrimination, living positively, accessing health and other services. Pamela was one of the peer interviewers:

‘When I was diagnosed with HIV in 2005 I didn’t know much about it and had no idea how it would impact on my life. I thought that HIV would never happen to me so why should I worry about it?

Since my diagnosis I have worked my way up, realizing that there is life after HIV! In actual fact, I have been so much happier overall since my positive diagnosis. It has helped me to be even more focused on looking after my wellbeing over everything else. I have learnt a lot from listening to other people’s experiences of living with HIV and this was especially true when I got involved in the People Living with HIV Stigma Index research.

The research was done in three main stages; the training on how to be good interviewers, the interviewing process itself, then the data analysis and entry. I have to say that I was most grateful and gratified to be involved in all of these stages as a person living with HIV. For me, to be at the forefront of trying to influence change and policy was something that I never thought would be possible. While doing the interviews someone asked me if it wasn’t boring to live with, work and build a career around HIV. I replied that, while I wasn’t there when the Stigma Index started, I will make it a point to be there when change happens. I will be able to testify that, in the end, I was part of it.

Being part of the IPPF UK Stigma Index research team was one of my proudest moments as I was able to connect and reconnect with different people. More than that was listening to people’s experiences. It just spurred me on to want to do even more to reduce the stigma and discrimination of people living with HIV. The journey continues…’