National HIV Testing Day is coming up June 27th, and the Southeast Tennessee Community HIV/AIDS Partnership Council (TNCHAP) has teamed up with Olivet Baptist Church Health/Nursing Ministry & Gilead Sciences to present a Wellness Fair on that day from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the church on Martin Luther King Blvd.
In advance of the day, we sat down with community activist Vince Moorman to talk about HIV testing, how perceptions of HIV and AIDS have changed over the years, and how living with HIV has improved dramatically with new treatments and medications.
The Pulse: First off, let’s talk about National HIV Testing Day.
Vince Moorman: It's a day, much like World AIDS Day, that we try to get as many people to come out to test for HIV. We want to do as much as we can to continue to change the stigma from it being just a gay thing and encouraging people of all races, nationalities, ages to go out and get tested just to see, just to know your status, because historically, a lot of people who may be infected do not know that they're infected.
The Pulse: Why is that?
Vince: There is a long incubation period before symptoms start to emerge and sometimes you're already into AIDS when that happens, so it's a prevention thing. But it's still more to try to incorporate HIV as just something else that people have to go through to test in order to prevent.
The Pulse: If you are sexually active, or if you've been sexually active at any time in your life, there's always a chance you may have been exposed to HIV. And, as you said, it is not just a “gay disease”.
Vince: That is correct.
The Pulse: There's still, even decades later, quite a bit of stigma attached to HIV.
Vince: Yes. But there have been so many advances in treatment, and I think there's been an ongoing process of the way people rethink HIV.
The Pulse: We all remember back in the 80s when it was basically a death sentence, and everybody was terrified of it.
Vince: Well, the first thing is that a lot of people still combine HIV and AIDS, and that's part of the problem, because they don't really understand that HIV is just the virus that causes AIDS, Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. But early on, HIV and AIDS was synonymous, and a lot of people, even though the education has been out there, they're still stuck on saying, you know, if you're just HIV, they'll still say you have AIDS. And I know people that have been HIV positive for decades now.
The Pulse: And many people who have been HIV positive for years do not have AIDS, even though there are still some out there who don’t understand the difference.
Vince: That is correct. And I'm one of them. What the virus of AIDS does is deplete your immune system to cause the syndrome. Apparently, people still need to be reminded or educated of the difference in the fact that you can still survive and thrive once you find out your status and start taking the recommended medications to keep yourself going.
Of course, if you are doing unsafe practices, change your behaviors and whatnot. I'm putting myself out there as a 30-plus year survivor, and I've gone through all the discriminatory actions that one who has an HIV diagnosis goes through, but I've overcome it. This is my way of giving back and just saying, you know, to look at me, you can't tell that anything is wrong with me.
The Pulse: You look quite healthy to us.
Vince: Actually, I'm in my second year of colon cancer. I was diagnosed at stage four, and it had already metastasized to my lungs. Two years later, I'm still walking, thriving, while still doing my chemo.
I do chemo every other week, but I don't have to look it. I didn't look it when I was diagnosed. You can't tell somebody has it, either cancer of HIV, so the stigma has to just end some kind of way.
The Pulse: Well, let's talk about the stigma of testing. Do you think there's still a stigma attached to it because of sexuality?
Vince. The fact that it started out predominantly in the gay community, then it went to IV users and then blood transfusions. But initially it happened in the gay community and then mostly gay people and people who lived alternative lifestyles were getting it and dying from it. So that's the image.
The Pulse: An image that many people are holding on to. They can't seem to to change that perception, even with cases like Ryan White.
Vince: Ryan was the person who was discriminated against as a child because of his blood disorder, which that's how he got it. I think that was when people first started realizing that it wasn't just gay people.
The Pulse: And there's also still a lot of transmission of HIV through intravenous drug use.
Vince: Oh, yes. With the increase of heroin use and fentanyl use and meth use, from my observation, drug addiction is on the rise. And so, as an ex-addict who was addicted to crack, you know, when you're using, you don't discriminate about what you do and who you do it with.
The Pulse: One of the things we really want to stress for people reading this is that even if you have never engaged in risky sexual behavior, you're not a drug user, etc., and you're thinking “why would I get tested?”, if you have ever been sexually active, you've been exposed to every person that person has been sexually active with, and so on and so forth. You just don't know.
Vince: Yeah. And see, that's why it's important to revisit this idea of stigma because there's a whole new population of people who are 40-plus who have entered the dating market. They think that because they're straight, they’re not at risk. But you don't even know where your partner has been in the past or if they have dipped in the pool of same-sex whatever.
The Pulse: But there is plenty of good news out there, as well. A study released last year showed that nine out of ten people that were HIV positive are virally suppressed because of modern medication.
Vince: Yes, myself included. I've been undetectable for 15 years.
The Pulse: But it also tells you that if you test and you're positive, it is not the end of the world.
Vince: Right. You still have pretty much a normal lifespan that you have, you would have had without a diagnosis. You just have a daily regimen that you have to take. I liken it to having diabetes and you have to take your insulin every day.
The Pulse: We're seeing new drug regimens coming into the pipeline and through testing now, which provide even greater promise. So the bottom line is there's no reason not to get tested.
Vince: That's correct. Because the more you know, the better chance you have of living a long and healthy life. Unfortunately, if you test positive, you're going to go through a psychological thing for a minute. Unless you have a good support system. And that's true of almost any disease, especially diseases that are considered to be sexually related.
The Pulse: Especially for an illness that you weren't prepared for.
Vince: Like my cancer diagnosis. I am making sure that my cancer doctor and my HIV doctor are working in conjunction. And so far, so good. The cancer treatment has not adversely affected my HIV.
The Pulse: That's fantastic. Now, there are many support groups for people that have been diagnosed with cancer, but what kind of support groups are there for HIV positive?
Vince: Well, pre-COVID shutdown, there were a lot of active support groups in every city. A lot of AIDS service organizations were offering support groups, which are, from my experience, very beneficial when you're having like-minded individuals who are going through the same thing to be in a group to discuss their ups and downs and challenges. Post-COVID, it seems people seem to be reluctant to get to gather again in a group setting.
The Pulse: Which is where social media and the Internet can be very beneficial.
Vince: Yeah, that seems to have taken the place of actually gathering in person. Unfortunately, I'm just not a social media kind of person. I'm old school, so I still prefer to meet in person. But even with that, I still don't think there's a lot of participation.
I don’t think many people are taking an HIV diagnosis it as seriously as they used to. With this younger generation and the fact that they have a pill called PrEP that they can take, they might be under the illusion that the PrEP is going to prevent them from actually getting the virus. It does help, but you can still get it even with PrEP.
The Pulse: So where do people find out more information about Testing Day?
Vince: They can find out more information by contacting Nikita Brown, the regional manager for the HIV Initiative in this area, at (615) 780-2555. They can also visit HIVTN.net where they can find out about the supportive services that are offered through the Ryan White program, as well as the CDC prevention programs that are available right here in Chattanooga and surrounding areas.
The Pulse: And if anybody wants to get in touch with you, we hear that you are often around town giving speeches and talks.
Vince: Well, I would like to. I can be reached through my email at vince_moore78@yahoo.com