8 HIV Myths

[Almost2late]

Menshealth magazine ran an article on 8 myths about HIV that I thought was great coming from such a mainstream publication..
Many of us already know many of these facts but with all the stigamtizing garbage from some politicians like that creep in Georgia and headlines on news sources, this really is a breath of fresh air imo..

https://www.menshealth.com/health/hiv-myths-you-should-not-believe

[kentfrat1783]

I just wish more people understood this.  Most still think of how it was back in the 80's but things have came along way. 

Things are getting better but it great that Men's Health done this article.  Hopefully it will open up discussion and also get rid of many of the myths.   

[CaveyUK]

Probably just me but I didn't really feel it was a particularly well written article. Fine I suppose from a general perspective, but the writer seemed intent on not nailing any colours to the mast too tightly (can still transmit if UD, 'may live few months less than someone non-infected' [their use of stigmatising language here, not mine], drugs have 'minimal toxicity', 'early on there is rarely an indication of infection', no mention of Truvada being used for HIV treatment and a statement that the risk of transmission is 'lower' for kissing etc).

It was probably a phone interview with a Dr who talked about the caveats and these crept into the piece. The problem with that when communicating to the general population (rather than to an audience specifically interested in that topic) is that it muddles the message more than it needs to be, and can actually lead to continued misconceptions.

This happens a lot at my work with complex projects too. Nothing is ever really black and white, but if you caveat everything when communicating to a wider audience the message actually gets lost. The caveats may be there, but they can be saved for when drilling into the detail, rather than when trying to summarise.

But I suppose a mainstream publication like this which has links to things like '4 STDs you may already have' and '10 diseases most men will have by the time they are 50' likely thrive on such grey areas.

Personally, I think if I wasn't in the HIV world and read the article I would come away thinking things are generally better than they were, but you can still catch it quite easily, can still suss people who are positive by the way they look in some cases and I better panic next time I have a rash because it's still possible to get it from oral sex or kissing.