It is 22 years since Paul Clift (pictured) tested positive for HIV and, at 56, he expects to continue living a full life for many years to come. He credits getting tested early for his good health and encourages others to get tested so they can stay well too.
“I went to my GP with a whole range of symptoms. I was feeling tired, had a loss of energy and was losing weight. When she suggested testing for HIV I was terrified as at the time there was no treatment, and a positive result meant that I would have an incurable and terminal illness.
“I had to wait two weeks for the results and during that time I remember feeling completely blank and numb as I tried to process the idea that I might have HIV. When I tested positive I felt, scared, angry and depressed, but at the time there was no counselling or support available, so I found it very hard to cope.
“Now, in my job as a patient representative at King's College Hospital, there are so many support groups where I can send people to get help and to meet others in their situation. I just wish there had been someone like me to help back when I was first diagnosed.
“I was lucky and the virus progressed slowly for me, and while many other people did die of AIDS, including my partner who tested positive at the same time as me, I survived. I did feel guilty and angry about that at the time, but it did mean that when effective treatments for HIV were developed I was able to benefit from them.
“Now I take three pills every day with my breakfast and that’s it. I feel fine and I don’t have any side effects at all. There is nothing I can’t do. I can drink, I can eat what I like and I can drive. I don’t have a partner, but plenty of people with HIV do and they can safely have sex and even have children. A positive diagnosis doesn’t have to stop you from doing anything.
“Last year I walked the North Downs from Farnham to Dover, walking 20 miles a day. I don’t feel restricted in any way by being HIV positive. I can expect to live at least into my 70s, and that is long enough.
“Someone who takes a test nowadays doesn’t have that nail biting two week wait. You get the results back instantly you want. If they test positive, as long as they are not testing very late when they are already ill, will be given a treatment regime that is easy to take. But even if you test negative, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t come back for regular tests if you could be at risk from infection.
“When I tested positive in the 80s, HIV was seen as a death sentence. Things have changed so much since the. New treatments mean that you can still live a full life with HIV. So it is better to be safe and get tested, rather than sorry that you left it too late.”
