Interview 23  

Interview 23

Age at Interview: 34
Sex: Male
Age at Diagnosis: 30
Background: An Asian gay man who was diagnosed in 2001 when he went along for tests following his partner having a sexually transmitted infection.

Brief outline:He was shocked when he found out he was actually infected with HIV, and he wanted to kill himself. Since his viral load has reduced to undetectable with medication (currently emtricitabine, efavirenz, tenofovir), he has felt much better physically and psychologically. (Video and audio clips read by an actor.)

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He thought that a 'positive' test result was a good thing and so at first could not understand his doctor's concern. (Read by an actor.)

 



And she says, 'How are you doing?' You know, 'You're here to find out your result and everything.' And say, 'Yes.' And she's just going… flick through the file like 10 minutes. Maybe she didn't find… I, I looked so happy, I was so excited. You know, everything's… Is… I tell my… I convinced myself everything will be fine. 

And I wasn't expecting anything. So she was just going through, over and over and over again. Again and again and again. I asked, 'Is everything Ok?' She say, 'Yes, yes, I'm just checking a few more details, so I…' Then she put the file down. And she said, 'There's… The test come positive.' I was happy. I… Positive in term… I take it different way. So I thought it's good, isn't it? Yes. Positive is good result. 

She said , 'No, no, no. Your HIV test is positive.' 'OK. But…' I was so panicked. I panicked. I can't understand exactly what she trying to say. HIV positive. Positive in my terms is good. Because I never know anything about HIV or AIDS anything.

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