Inside HIV

The centrepiece of Living Positive Victoria’s 2018 World AIDS Day presentation was a community forum on the topic Living and Ageing with HIV, moderated by Dr Chris Lemoh, President of the Victorian African Health Action Network.The panel comprised, Dr Clovis Palmer, Head, Palmer Laboratory Burnet Institute; Dr Liz Crock, Bolton Clarke Clinical Nurse Consultant/Team Coordinator; David Menadue OAM, HIV activist and Bev Greet, HIV activist.

Recorded live at the launch of World AIDS Day 2018 at the AMREP Theatre in Melbourne Australia. Featuring a welcome speech from Adam Ehm President of Living Positive Victoria, who highlights this year’s theme “Everybody Counts.” Speakers include: Peter Breadon Executive Director, Community Participation, Health and Wellbeing Division, a keynote address by Professor Mark Stoove from the Burnet Institute and Dr Susan Paxton and Mr Julien Fournier from the Positive Speakers Bureau of Living Positive Victoria

Currently there is a lot of chatter about HIV Cure.  What role do HIV positive people play in the research for a cure?  Are there different types of Cures? Why would I want to participate in cure research? Realistically, how far away is a cure for HIV?These questions and so much more were discussed during the 2017 ASHM Conference in Canberra.In this podcast, recorded live on 7 November 2017, Professor Sharon Lewin from the Doherty Institute in Melbourne, discusses some of the challenges that researchers face in their search for an HIV cure.  Also on the discussion panel are, Cipri Martinez, President of NAPWHA, Dr Rowena Johnston, Vice President of amfAR and Dr Robert Page, a S100 GP from Sydney.  Moderating this discussion is Heath Paynter from the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations.To find out more about HIV Cure research head to http://hivcure.com.au/

In the largest study of its kind, UNSW’s Kirby Institute conducted research with gay men in a sero-different relationship (where one partner is HIV positive and the other negative) from 2012-2016.The findings of the Opposites Attract Study reveal, nearly 17,000 acts of anal sex without a condom took place.  Not one case of HIV transference took place.We cross to the conference in Paris to speak with Professor Andrew Grulich from the Kirby Institute for this breaking news. One of the study participants, Andrew Thorpe, shares how important this research was for him as the negative partner in a sero-different relationship.Then we head back to Paris as the Executive Officer of Living Positive Victoria, Brent Allen, brings us up-to-date with the latest from the conference.

AS REVEALED FIRST ON JOY 94.9Confirmation that a participant in Melbourne's PrEPX Trial has become HIV positive.Dean Beck and Shannon Power are first with the story as revealed on The Informer JOY 94.9

Imagine arriving in a new country at 21 years of age, no friends, little family, dealing with a mental health condition and then being told you are HIV positive. Our guest found herself in that position over 8 years ago.Today she is the youngest women ever to be on the board of directors for Living Positive Victoria and recently was appointed the Health Promotions and Communications Co-ordinator for Positive Women.She is one of the new breed of inspirational voices in Australia’s HIV response. Softly spoken, super smart and gentle to the core, she is elegant, polite and proper. But don’t be fooled, she is no push over.Meet the English rose whose softness is the foundation of her resilience and determination, meet the amazing Christabel Millar.

Victoria’s Health Minister Jill Hennessy launched the Double Happiness campaign last year.  Double Happiness is a campaign promoting the transformative potential that biomedical advances in science can have in the HIV response.But is this unfunded, community campaign enough to deliver no new HIV infection in Australia?  Is it even enough to make an impact on HIV stigma?The AMAZING Cath Smith heads to Melbourne’s Gay nightclub Sircuit to ask a few questions. 

They say leaders are born, not made.  Well in this episode we explore what made John Manwaring the leader he is today.  Having volunteered and worked for both Living Positive Victoria and the Victorian AIDS Council while studying law, John has just been appointed key policy adviser on HIV matters for the Victorian Government.

Ian Down is the research associate behind the Sero Conversion Study conducted by the Kirby Institute at the UNSW in Sydney.The Seroconversion Study has existed in various forms since 1992, providing valuable insights into the lives of people recently diagnosed HIV-positive. It has charted the sexual behaviors, activities, relationships and attitudes of (mostly) gay men, as they come to terms with the reality of living with HIV.

By 2020 there is estimated to be some 30 000 Australians living with HIV and more than half of them will be over 50 years of age.Globally there is a real push to do further research to understand the affects of HIV and aging on the immune system.  In August of 2016, 4000 of the worlds leading immunologists assembled in Melbourne for the International Congress of Immunology.At the invitation of Professor Sharon Lewin from the Doherty Institute, inside HIV went along to capture some of the latest findings delivered during a special panel of experts.

Half of Australia’s positive people are over 50 years old – as long-term survivors their experience of living with HIV for 25, 30 even 35 years – means that the effects of the virus and the long-term effects of some medications, are compromising their wellbeing.   In August of 2016, 4000 of the worlds top immunologists came to Melbourne for the International Congress of Immunology.  Inside HIV was there to capture the key note address delivered by Dr Clovis Palmer from the Burnet Institute and introduced by Professor Sharon Lewin from the Doherty Institute.

Award winning journalist Mark Kearney interviews inside HIV host Dean Beck for an article that featured on page 4 of the Bendigo Advertiser on December 1, 2016 – World AIDS Day.This is the interview, literally as it unfolded.

In April 2016 Camden Tilley received his positive diagnosis just days before his 22nd birthday.  It’s been a tough slog since then as the destructive forces of internalised stigma took hold of Camden’s life culminating in a suicide attempt.  After hitting rock bottom, Camden has turned his life around and is now undertaking an artistic project to shed light on HIV stigma’s darkness. A story of amazing resilience. 

A very frank and raw conversation with two of the world’s biggest gay porn stars – Jesse Jackman and Dirk Caber – about HIV, sex and the gay porn industry today.

I’ve known Brett since he was 19 years old.  He was a cheeky little smart-arse back then and not much has changed.  He is a good mate of mine and now 31 years old.Brett is eloquent, articulate, private school educated and now has two degrees.So how did this adopted child raised by an ex-army, ultra-conservative Anglican Minister and his wife, end up HIV positive at 21?In his own words, this is Brett’s story.

WARNING: Strictly Adult Content.Slamming. Blasting. Whacking. Whatever you call it, it’s gay men injecting crystal meth and having sex.In this episode of inside HIV we explore one man’s story of how he went from being a white collar worker earning six figures, to having the Salvation Army give him food vouchers to survive.It’s a confronting story that is raw and true.  But it’s also a story of how he got himself out of that situation so that he could become a functioning member of society again.So that our guest may remain anonymous we have disguised he voice.

WARNING: Strictly Adult ContentThe movie ChemSex shocked the world – highlighting in graphic detail, the sexual connection that gay men have to meth.  In this episode we talk to the star of that movie David Stuart from London’s ChemSex Clinic, and local activist Nic Holas about the role of community in the ChemSex response.Later in the episode we catch up with JOHN who has his own shocking story to reveal.

There are far too few opportunities for the broader community to hear the stories of positive people. World AIDS Day is the one day each year that allows us to connect and inform.On 1st of December 2016, we went to the community launch of World AIDS Day in Victoria. The theme for the day was “HIV is still here; and it’s on the move.”Featuring:Hon. Jill Hennessy – Victoria’s Health Minister  Richard Keane – President, Living Positive VictoriaAssociate Professor Edwina Wright – Alfred HospitalGareth and Heather - Positive Speakers Bureau of Living Positive

In this episode, journalist Shannon Power heads to Melbourne’s annual LGBTI Festival, the Midsumma Carnival to ask gay men what they know about Treatment as Prevention (TasP) and HIV prevention methods.  Their answers will shock you!Then, having returned from a family wedding interstate, Dean takes John, our newly diagnosed guy, out for a coffee to see how he is doing.

Today you will meet a woman who was one of the first women in Australia to be diagnosed HIV positive. She is courageous, an inspiration, a fighter and a world champion.  

Today’s episode is part 2 of the report from the Australasian HIV Medical Conference – ASHM 2016.  If you missed part 1, you can check it out at insideHIV.net or download it from itunes.On the AFAO community stage, a special symposium featured many of the most exciting developments happening, for positive people.Launching Australia’s first national campaign specifically designed to improve the lives of positive people was Aaron Cogle, CEO of the National Association of People with HIV Australia (NAPWHA).  Aaron explains the evolution of the Good Quality Of Life campaign.NAPWHA also played a part in the development of a world first.  MyLife+ is a smart phone app that helps positive people manage their health and wellbeing. Oonagh Rocks, Community Affairs Manager at ViiV Healthcare details the development of the app, before introducing Bill Patterson, NAPWHA’s Operations Manager. Bill highlights the importance of integrating the lived experience of positive people into something as technologically advanced as the MyLife+ app.This symposium was where insideHIV.net and this podcast series for positive people, launched. Caleb Hawk, the Communications Coordinator of the Victorian AIDS Council, provides some background before Dean Beck launches the project.We also discover the difficulty Doctors have in defining the relationships of men who have sex with men (MSM).  Dr Vincent Cornelisse from Melbourne sexual Health Centre reveals some fascinating findings from his research. 

Developments in science, medicine, treatment and prevention have dramatically changed over the last 30 years of Australia’s HIV response.The Australasian Society of HIV Medicine Conference held in Adelaide in November 2016, gave our peak health organisations a chance to share information, collaborate on projects, get updated on the latest advancements and connect with people living with HIV.  But what’s in it for you and me?It was my first time to the ASHM conference and I was keen to find out if these events actually achieved anything, so I spoke to:Joel Murray – policy adviser at Living Positive VictoriaNicholas Parkhill – CEO of ACON Health NSWJason Asselin – Research Assistant at Burnet InstituteAssociate Professor Mark A Stoové – Burnet InstituteBrent Allen – EO Living Positive VictoriaAnd we see how John is doing having returned home to his family for the first time following his HIV positive diagnosis.

Nic Holas and Ruan Ugs are two young guys who decided very early on that going on treatment and connecting to other HIV positive people, was going to help them manage their health and wellbeing.  Both went on to create community organisations that provide peer support and deliver a tangible sense of belonging for others. Plus, we find out how John is doing two weeks after being diagnosed HIV positive.

Being told you are HIV positive totally sucks – but things have changed dramatically and a positive diagnosis today means you’ll be OK if you look after yourself. Over the next two episodes of insideHIV we’ll explore the stories of people who have received an HIV positive diagnosis within the last 5 years.  Campbell is a young, inspirational man who came up with the [+U] disclosure symbol used by many guys on dating sites like Grindr and Scruff.  And we meet John who received his positive diagnosis just a few days ago.

Emerging from Australia's Decade Of Silence, is a new generation of people living with HIV who refuse to play the victim. They are empowering others to be strong, resilient and come out from shadows of stigma and discrimination. Along the way they are creating new pathways, forming new alliances and forging initiatives that support the positive community.  Could we be witnessing the dawn of a new era? 

Inside HIV is coming.  Discover what it is all about.