As we get closer to meeting the goals of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy and the Getting to Zero Illinois plan, it is important to recognize and lift up those who have paved the way in surviving and thriving with HIV.
June 5 is HIV Long-Term Survivors Awareness Day. First observed in 2014, it’s a day to honor long-term survivors of HIV and raise awareness about their needs, issues, and journeys.
The date of June 5 coincides with the anniversary of the first official reporting of GRID (Gay-Related Immune Deficiency, which later became known as HIV/AIDS.) On June 5, 1981, the CDC first reported on five cases of a mysterious disease affecting gay men, the beginning of what we now know as the AIDS Epidemic.
My personal journey with HIV began 28 years ago as a gay man living in the City of Chicago when I woke up one morning with a rash all over my body. Being uninsured, I went to the clinic at the local Health Department and received a battery of tests including an HIV test. When I returned two weeks later, I was told I had HIV. I remember leaving that that office and standing on the street, not thinking “Oh my God, I am going to die!” but “Oh my God, I want to live!”
In 1996, they were just starting to introduce what we now know as antiretroviral therapy (ART). When I first began medication, I was taking up to 10 pills a day and at one time was taking 20, including medication I was taking to deal with the side effects of other medication. At times it seemed to me the treatment was worse than the disease. I had never felt sicker in my life than I did when I started those medications. Since then, we have come a very long way. I now get two shots every other month which successfully suppresses the virus with few if any side effects.
HIV is now considered a long-term manageable disease, the key word here being manageable. Today, thanks to improvements in HIV medication and the effectiveness of treatment, people with HIV who are diagnosed early, get into care, and stay on their medication can keep the virus suppressed and live long and healthy lives.
For this reason, more than half of people living with diagnosed HIV in the United States and dependent areas are aged 50 and older. Many of them have been living with HIV for years; others were diagnosed with HIV later in life. As we move towards ending the epidemic, it is important to remember that people will still be living and aging with HIV/AIDS.
It is essential that we continue to provide the specialized support they need to survive and thrive!
Whether you were diagnosed yesterday or 28 years ago, you are and will be not only a Long-Term Survivor but a Thriver! 
~ Bryan Gooding
Program Manager – HIV Prevention
Public Health Institute of Metropolitan Chicago
