'My HIV is not the death sentence it once was'

Modern HIV treatment can fully suppress the virus, making it undetectable.

A man who said he was "terrified" by the AIDS public health campaign of the 1980s is urging people to learn more about HIV, which he says is "no longer a death sentence".

Mark, 68, who lives near Gloucester, was diagnosed with HIV in 2015. He said he was "in a state of low-grade shock" and confusion as he thought it was "something that affected other people".

However, after treatment the virus is now undetectable .

NHS guidelines now recommend daily, lifelong antiretroviral tablets that prevent the virus from replicating, allowing the immune system to repair itself and making the viral load undetectable.

Being undetectable allows people with HIV to live without fear of transmission

Mark now takes medication daily, his virus is fully suppressed and cannot be transmitted to anyone else through sexual contact.

"It's no longer the condition it was," he said. "There's hope."

He told BBC Radio Gloucestershire that he first became aware of HIV and Aids decades before his diagnosis, when he saw the 'Don't Die of Ignorance' public health campaign, which featured imagery of a tombstone and warned there was no cure for HIV.

Despite progress in treating the virus, Mark said he does not think the general public is aware of the difference.

"I spoke to somebody yesterday and I said to her in conversation, 'Well, I was HIV positive, but I'm undetectable. Do you know what undetectable means?' She hadn't got a clue.

"It just brought home to me yet again that people just hear the first part of that sentence, they don't hear the whole story," he explained.

"Of course, not everyone's undetectable, I appreciate that. But there is so much in the way of treatment now that you don't have to consider it a death sentence."

'I wanted to understand'

Mark said his diagnosis was "bewildering" but he was "very grateful" for the help and support he has received, including the Brigstowe Project in Bristol, a charity which aims to enhance the quality of live for those living with HIV, and reduce the stigma.

After receiving support from the charity, he became a volunteer to help others.

"Again, I didn't want to be an activist, but I wanted to understand my condition and understand it for others," Mark said.

Mark said he went back to college and reconnected with his artwork, which he uses to run workshops.

"In a way, I've come to terms with it," he said of his diagnosis.

"If you do all what you're supposed to do, you take all the medication and you look after yourself, there's no reason why you haven't got a healthy outlook as much as anyone else.

"It's not what it was in 1987."