Let's end the HIV epidemic

What does HIV in Ohio look like today? The present looks far better than the past. We've been living with HIV since the early 1980s. Back then, doctors raced to figure out what it was, and many people here and around the world died for lack of effective treatment. For many people who remember those frightening early days, they may not realize just how far we've come. I'd like to share some good news about our progress toward ending the epidemic and ways we can help ourselves, our loved ones and our neighbors stay healthy. HIV is a virus that is transmitted from one person to another through unprotected sex or through coming in contact with blood that contains the virus. In the early days, HIV spread largely among people who received a blood donation containing HIV, men who had sex with men, and intravenous drug users who shared needles. Media depictions may have set HIV in our minds as something that only gay men and drug users battled, but it did — and does — affect straight people and, left untreated, can be passed on to newborns. We've learned a lot in the past 40 years. We know that HIV is not shared by shaking hands or hugging or through the air. We know there are lots of safe ways for people living with HIV to interact with their partners. And here's the best news about HIV today: Doctors have developed medicines that prevent transmission of HIV, and another set of medicines that have turned it into a chronic condition instead of a terminal illness. As explained here, PrEP is medicine people at risk for HIV take daily to prevent getting HIV from. When taken as prescribed, PrEP is highly effective for preventing HIV. For individuals living with HIV, they can bring the virus down to undetectable levels by regularly taking antiretroviral therapy, or ARTs, in a single pill. Undetectable means un-transmittable! And undetectable means people can go on living long, healthy lives. About 35 people are living with HIV in Hancock County. In order to end the HIV epidemic, it is important that individuals know their status (HIV+/HIV-). Free and accessible testing has not always been widely available in our area. LGBTQ+ Spectrum of Findlay partners with Equitas Health and The Family Resource Center to provide free walk-up HIV testing at The Family Center from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Wednesday. Accessibility is critical because HIV still carries stigma that makes it harder to prevent and to treat. In a city as small as ours, people talk. Word gets around. What if that word was a helpful one? When our family members or neighbors battle heart disease, we don't judge them for how much cholesterol they ate. We offer them a hand and support them in their journey to optimal health. We can do that with HIV, too. What else can we do to end the HIV epidemic? Modernize Ohio laws governing people living with HIV. Our laws were created and revised in the 1990s, and they unfairly single out people living with HIV. As written, the laws can be used to charge someone with a felony for spitting — an act that has almost no chance of transmitting HIV. People living with HIV can be charged with a felony if an ex-girlfriend or boyfriend falsely accuses them of not disclosing their status. In all these cases, the person can be convicted regardless of whether the accuser remains free of HIV. This matters because unfair laws like ours prevent people from getting tested and accessing life-saving treatment — treatment that can save their own lives and those of future partners. President Donald Trump's administration set a goal in 2019 to end the HIV epidemic by 2030. Part of the strategy is focusing resources on the 50 places in America where HIV is most prevalent. Unfortunately, three of those places are in Ohio: Cuyahoga, Franklin and Hamilton counties. I am part of the Ohio Health Modernization Movement, a coalition of doctors, public health officials and advocates who are working now to modernize Ohio laws. We can help reach this ambitious goal in Findlay by showing support for people living with HIV and for those at risk. We can call our state representatives and state senators, as well as the governor, to urge modernizing laws pertaining to HIV. Together, we can end the epidemic. Bradley graduated from Brighton and Sussex Medical School in 2016. Prior to her medical training, she worked with populations disproportionately impacted by stigma and prejudice in Oakland, California. She has over 16 years experience of working in social care and health care-related fields, and is the director of clinical prevention initiatives at Equitas Health. She is also executive director of LGBTQ+ Spectrum of Findlay.