You, me and HIV You, me and HIV
SOURCE:* IRIN/PlusNews*
http://www.plusnews.org/
Fellow Advocate!!!
Rising HIV prevalence rates around the world have changed how we date and
how we love, at least in theory. The sexual history discussion comes up
earlier in dating, and HIV testing as a couple is just a step below
becoming "official". Then comes figuring out how to navigate love and also
HIV.
For Pholokgolo Ramothwala, media owner and a father of two whose partner is
HIV-negative, being an HIV activist made disclosing his positive HIV status
easier, but the decision was still accompanied by fear of rejection... In
May 2011, the HPTN-052 trial, conducted among couples in which only one
partner was HIV-positive - discordant couples - showed that that treating
an HIV-infected individual can reduce the risk of sexual transmission of
HIV to an uninfected partner. It's not all stress, says JP Mokgethi-Heath,
an Anglican priest who, like his husband, Paul - also a priest - is living
with HIV. For JP, HIV has proven to be a blessing in disguise...
Ramothwala and his partner, now years into the relationship and with two
children, have figured out safer sex. He and his partner have had to talk
it through - from sexual positions in which they can both be sure the
condom is still on, to what kind of condoms to use and how to have children
safely. For their first child they used sperm washing - a procedure that
separates an HIV-positive man's sperm from the semen, which is thought to
pose most of the HIV infection risk to women... To conceive their youngest
daughter, the couple used post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) - ARVs that
reduce the risk of HIV infection if taken within 72 hours of possible
exposure. The couple timed unprotected sex to coincide with ovulation and
ensured that she took PEP within the prescribed window period..
Click on the link above to read full story. Thanks for reading through
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Many Thanks
Yours' in Prevention Science