Today’s antiretroviral treatments would have been seen as a miracle in the 1980s. They mean that being HIV positive is now a manageable condition, with which sufferers can still live long and rewarding lives, rather that the death sentence it was once considered. Key to treatment being effective, however, is diagnosis, and this is now the biggest issue.

Quite simply, if you are HIV positive, the chances are that you will not know about it till it’s too late. There are no “classic symptoms” as such, and by the time any symptoms at all start to manifest, the condition is usually in an advanced stage that will not respond well to treatment. Read more…