{"id":39640,"date":"2025-11-29T20:50:50","date_gmt":"2025-11-29T21:50:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=39640"},"modified":"2025-11-29T22:23:53","modified_gmt":"2025-11-29T22:23:53","slug":"the-hiv-battle-is-not-over-warns-creator-of-its-a-sin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=39640","title":{"rendered":"The HIV battle is not over, warns creator of It&#8217;s a Sin"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-component=\"byline-block\" class=\"sc-3b6b161a-0 dPVOKT\">\n<div data-testid=\"byline-new\" class=\"sc-573fa0e8-0 bWRWzH\">\n<div class=\"sc-573fa0e8-1 bNZQpT\">32 minutes ago<\/p>\n<p><button disabled type=\"button\" aria-label=\"Share\" class=\"sc-28fdc07f-2 sc-28fdc07f-5 sc-28fdc07f-6 fQbEOM dSGHyC kuBZLr\"><span data-testid=\"button-icon-wrapper\" class=\"sc-28fdc07f-0 sjpOl\"><\/span><span data-testid=\"button-text\" aria-hidden=\"false\" class=\"sc-28fdc07f-1 fpFxhF\">Share<\/span><\/button><button disabled type=\"button\" aria-label=\"Save\" data-action=\"save\" class=\"sc-28fdc07f-2 sc-28fdc07f-5 sc-28fdc07f-6 ejnpYO dWrhlh kycDtY\"><span data-testid=\"button-icon-wrapper\" class=\"sc-28fdc07f-0 sjpOl\"><\/span><span data-testid=\"button-text\" aria-hidden=\"false\" class=\"sc-28fdc07f-1 fpFxhF\">Save<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><span data-testid=\"byline-new-contributors\" class=\"sc-573fa0e8-11 cOQNNv\"><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"sc-573fa0e8-7 kdBCdE\">Megan Davies<\/span><span class=\"sc-573fa0e8-9 keGieE\">and<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"sc-573fa0e8-7 kdBCdE\">Carwyn John<!-- -->,<\/span><span data-testid=\"byline-new-contributors-contributor-1-role-location\" class=\"sc-573fa0e8-8 eDNgSC\">BBC Wales<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<p><button disabled type=\"button\" aria-label=\"Share\" class=\"sc-28fdc07f-2 sc-28fdc07f-5 sc-28fdc07f-6 fQbEOM dSGHyC kuBZLr\"><span data-testid=\"button-icon-wrapper\" class=\"sc-28fdc07f-0 sjpOl\"><\/span><span data-testid=\"button-text\" aria-hidden=\"false\" class=\"sc-28fdc07f-1 fpFxhF\">Share<\/span><\/button><button disabled type=\"button\" aria-label=\"Save\" data-action=\"save\" class=\"sc-28fdc07f-2 sc-28fdc07f-5 sc-28fdc07f-6 ejnpYO dWrhlh kycDtY\"><span data-testid=\"button-icon-wrapper\" class=\"sc-28fdc07f-0 sjpOl\"><\/span><span data-testid=\"button-text\" aria-hidden=\"false\" class=\"sc-28fdc07f-1 fpFxhF\">Save<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<figure>\n<div data-component=\"image-block\" class=\"sc-3b6b161a-0 gtLOOD\">\n<div data-testid=\"hero-image\" class=\"sc-5340b511-1 cMIbKV\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/8c1bf740-cc48-11f0-a666-77ae802e0cf4.jpg.webp\" loading=\"eager\" alt=\"Ray Burmiston In this photograph Russell T Davies is wearing a red and blue checked shirt with a black jacket. It&#039;s a professional photograph taken on the set of Dr Who. You can see the Tardis in the background. He has dark hair and wears black glasses. \" class=\"sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA\" \/><span class=\"sc-5340b511-2 jVqbAn\">Ray Burmiston<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-3b6b161a-0 dPVOKT\">\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">It&#8217;s a Sin writer Russell T Davies has warned &#8220;the fight is not over&#8221; when it comes to eradicating HIV. <\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">He said misinformation about the virus made him &#8220;despair&#8221; and warned that we must not &#8220;blunder into the future without looking back at the past&#8221;. <\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Davies&#8217; warnings come as UNAIDS, the UN&#8217;s joint aids prevention programme, warned <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.unaids.org\/en\/resources\/presscentre\/pressreleaseandstatementarchive\/2025\/november\/wad-2025-report\" class=\"sc-f9178328-0 iCaRzc\">the global response to HIV has suffered its most significant setback in decades<\/a> due to cuts in global funding.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">It warned a failure to reach the 2030 global HIV targets could result in an additional 3.3 million new HIV infections in the next five years.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-3b6b161a-0 dPVOKT\">\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">The World Health Organisation regards HIV as a <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.who.int\/news-room\/fact-sheets\/detail\/hiv-aids\" class=\"sc-f9178328-0 iCaRzc\">&#8220;major global public health issue&#8221;<\/a> and estimated it had claimed 44.1 million lives to date. <\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">While it isn&#8217;t curable, antiviral medication developed in the &#8217;90s means that patients can live long and healthy lives. <\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Davies, 62, recalled a time when fear around the virus was front and centre of public consciousness, as deaths dominated the headlines. <\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">&#8220;I was 18 in 1981, so I kind of witnessed and stood back from and was horrified by the epidemic that ensued,&#8221; said the Swansea-born screenwriter.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure>\n<div data-component=\"image-block\" class=\"sc-3b6b161a-0 gXrNRM\">\n<div data-testid=\"image\" class=\"sc-5340b511-1 cMIbKV\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/grey-placeholder-2.png\" class=\"sc-5340b511-0 gUePlo hide-when-no-script\" aria-label=\"image unavailable\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/50cafd20-cc6c-11f0-8c51-edb570175476.jpg.webp\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Channel 4 This photograph includes five friends. From left to right we have a man in a black jacket with a fur collar, a man in a red puffer coat, a man in a denim jacket, a woman in a blue dress and finally (on the far right) a man in a grey jacket. They&#039;re all looking in different directions. \" class=\"sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA\" \/><span class=\"sc-5340b511-2 jVqbAn\">Channel 4<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-3b6b161a-0 dPVOKT\">\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">He said he while he remembered &#8220;the heroes who stood up and made it count, and have fought&#8221;, he was worried and angered by the misinformation and stigma that he believed still existed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">&#8220;There are great dangers coming. Now we have HIV denial, which is a growing force&#8230; that&#8217;s becoming almost policy in some places,&#8221; referring to a notion he said was spreading online in the United States that HIV does not cause Aids.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">He added: &#8220;I&#8217;m absolutely certain the battle is not over and sometimes I fear that the battle&#8217;s about to begin again.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">It&#8217;s a Sin told the story of a young group of friends in London at the height of the Aids epidemic.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Davies, who is gay, is considered a trailblazer within LGBTQIA+ drama and said it was &#8220;the great privilege&#8221; of his life to have written a show that allowed people to talk about a virus that was, for so long, shrouded in shame.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">&#8220;There is not a single day when someone doesn&#8217;t stop me and say how much that show meant to them,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"sc-f98b1ad2-0 gXmhTb\">What is HIV?<\/h2>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-3b6b161a-0 dPVOKT\">\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a virus that weakens your immune system and increases your risk of serious illness, according to the NHS. <\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">It is most often spread by having vaginal, anal or oral sex with someone who has HIV, while not using a condom.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Aids (acquired immune deficiency syndrome), or late-stage HIV, is the name for a collection of serious illnesses caused by the HIV virus.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">With the correct treatment, most people with HIV do not develop Aids and are able to live a long and healthy life.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">There are approximately 2, 800 people living with HIV in Wales, according to Fast Track Cymru, a charity which aims to end HIV transmission in Wales.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">There is a globally recognised target to end new transmissions of the virus by 2030.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure>\n<div data-component=\"image-block\" class=\"sc-3b6b161a-0 gXrNRM\">\n<div data-testid=\"image\" class=\"sc-5340b511-1 cMIbKV\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/grey-placeholder-2.png\" class=\"sc-5340b511-0 gUePlo hide-when-no-script\" aria-label=\"image unavailable\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/5a856ff0-cc5b-11f0-a709-e1cdbb15a6d6.jpg.webp\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Mark Lewis This is a selfie of Mark Lewis, taken against the backdrop of Westminster, in London. He&#039;s a white man, in his 40s, and wears a grey sweatshirt with transparent round glasses. He has dark hair and dark facial hair too.\" class=\"sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA\" \/><span class=\"sc-5340b511-2 jVqbAn\">Mark Lewis<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-3b6b161a-0 dPVOKT\">\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Mark Lewis, a senior policy advisor to the All Party Parliamentary Group on HIV\/Aids in Westminster, recalled the moment he learned he had the virus.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">&#8220;I was sort of living a lie because I was working in the field, I was telling other people, I was keeping a list, but I hadn&#8217;t told my own family,&#8221; said the 43-year-old, originally from Carmarthenshire.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">&#8220;I wasn&#8217;t worried about HIV because I thought it had gone away, because it wasn&#8217;t in the news as much, and I thought I was an educated person myself.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Mr Lewis said he had experienced prejudice as a result of his diagnosis in 2018, including a dentist who asked him if it was safe for the clinic to treat him.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">He also recalled an encounter with a barman who was gay, who didn&#8217;t know what World Aids Day was or recognise a pin worn by Mr Lewis which read &#8220;Can&#8217;t Pass It On&#8221; &#8211; a reference to the fact you can&#8217;t transmit HIV if you&#8217;re having effective treatment. <\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">&#8220;That is the problem, a lot of youngsters don&#8217;t know about it, because we&#8217;ve come so far in the treatment and the prevention and all that,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">&#8220;We&#8217;ve still got a long way to go.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure>\n<div data-component=\"image-block\" class=\"sc-3b6b161a-0 gXrNRM\">\n<div data-testid=\"image\" class=\"sc-5340b511-1 cMIbKV\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/grey-placeholder-2.png\" class=\"sc-5340b511-0 gUePlo hide-when-no-script\" aria-label=\"image unavailable\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/46242190-cc48-11f0-a666-77ae802e0cf4.jpg.webp\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Dr Olwen Williams In this photograph from the 80s, Dr Olwen Williams is pictured at a desk. She&#039;s wearing a white overcoat with a yellow shirt underneath. She has a short black bob with a fringe. \" class=\"sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA\" \/><span class=\"sc-5340b511-2 jVqbAn\">Dr Olwen Williams<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-3b6b161a-0 dPVOKT\">\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Dr Olwen Williams remembers learning about the first cases of HIV being reported in the UK in 1980s, when she was finishing her medical degree in Liverpool. <\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">She remembers being unable to find any information about the condition in her textbooks. <\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">As a young doctor originally from north Wales, she then spent time working on a HIV ward in London at the height of the epidemic.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">&#8220;It was quite emotional because this was my peer group I was looking after and seeing,&#8221; said the now 66-year-old.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">&#8220;They were people in their 20s and 30s. It was just devastating what was happening.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Dr Williams reflected on the joy she felt as a doctor to be able to tell people they could live with HIV, thanks to modern medicine. <\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">&#8220;It&#8217;s so phenomenal to be able to say in my lifetime, I have seen something going from being incurable, a life sentence, to actually something that is a chronic disease.&#8221; <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-component=\"links-block\" class=\"sc-3b6b161a-0 djqsWD\">\n<div class=\"sc-666b6d83-0 sc-c4fb5674-0 jYmMqa kGPvxx\"><span data-testid=\"links-title\" class=\"sc-c4fb5674-2 bBuHEW\">Related internet links<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>32 minutes agoShareSaveMegan DaviesandCarwyn John<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38525,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=39640"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39640\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39647,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39640\/revisions\/39647"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/38525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=39640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=39640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=39640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}