FAST-TRACK CITIES
By Tara Russell (she/her)
Contact the Sexual Health Centre 021 427 6676 or visit our website www.sexualhealthcentre.com/living- with-hiv24. HOW CAN WE ALL BE ALLIES FOR PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV? Listen: to people living with HIV Learn: make sure we have the right information. U=U means that people who are on effective HIV treatment can’t past it on through sex. Take responsibility: we can be proactive in sharing with our future partners how we intend to keep each other What to get more involved with Cork’s Fast Track City? Contact: tara.r@sexualhealthcentre.com MORE INFO
disoproxil Teva) is available in pharmacies with a prescription. There is a specialist PrEP clinic based at the South Infirmary Victoria Hospital . You can contact them for an appointment on 0874504239. THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV IN CORK AND ACCESSING SERVICES IN CORK IS GROWING, BUT THIS IS MOSTLY BECAUSE MORE PEOPLE ARE SURVIVING AND THRIVING. Fast Track Cities Cork is an alliance of people living with HIV, Cork City Council, CUH clinical consultants, public health, health promotion, and community-based support organisations.
Will Kennedy, a member of this alliance shared with us: “Since being diagnosed with HIV in 2007, I have been an HIV activist for those of us living with HIV. On June 14th 2019, Cork, Dublin, Limerick and Galway became part of the Fast Track Cities Movement. I am hopeful that by becoming part of this worldwide movement, we will get to zero new cases by 2030, zero preventable deaths and end HIV stigma. Lofty aims, but with a lot of hard work and the help of our community, I believe we can achieve this.” Through public consultation, we have developed and agreed on a 5-year strategy and an action plan that will help us achieve our ambitious goals for Cork. We’ve got plans for local workshops, creative engagement in public cvonversation, targets for improved services, and harder conversations about policy change and funding priorities. LIVING WITH HIV AND WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT SUPPORTS AVAILABLE?
making informed decisions around HIV prevention. Being educated about prevention tools when hooking up with someone is allyship. An ally can call out conversations or jokes that stigmatize people living with HIV: If you witness a conversation that includes a joke or comment that disparages people living with HIV, stand up and let them know that it’s not OK. WHAT IS PrEP? PrEP (pre exposure prophylaxis) is a daily dose of medication which reduces the risk of getting HIV. PrEP is proven to be safe and very effective to stop HIV from establishing itself inside the body. Taking PrEP once every day reduces the risk of getting HIV from sex by more than 90%. PrEP does not stop you from getting other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), so PrEP is not a replacement for condoms. IS PrEP AVAILABLE IN IRELAND? Yes. A generic version of the medication (Emtricitabine/Tenofovir
there will be an option for an injection every few months. Our message is U=U. Undetectable is Untransmissible.
IF YOU HAVE HIV, ARE ON EFFECTIVE TREATMENT, AND YOUR VIRAL LOAD IS UNDETECTABLE YOU WON’T PASS ALONG HIV TO A SEXUAL PARTNER. If you want to be an ally to people living with HIV (PLHIV), understand, understand and pass on the message: if someone says they’re “undetectable“, they mean they are on effective treatment and cannot pass HIV on. If someone talks to you about their HIV status, understand that this can be a very significant moment in someone’s life. A person is trusting you with important, private information, so as an ally, always respect their privacy. To further support PLHIV, take control of your own sexual health. Being a strong ally means learning about PrEP, condoms, testing, and actively
Cork City is part of a global movement to end new HIV infections, and eliminate stigma, by 2030. Is it possible? And what’s that got to do with Pride? Maybe it’s stating the obvious, but in these times, it’s important to be clear - HIV infection, risk and stigma disproportionately impacts members of the LGBTQI+ community. The LGBTQI+ community has been at the forefront of HIV activism and solidarity since the start of awareness. This is Pride. Is Bród é seo. It’s thanks to community activism, scientific development, and political commitment, that HIV is now a preventable and manageable condition. For those with access to modern treatment, HIV is no longer a life-ending illness. The first HIV treatments were a large number of pills with nasty side effects. Today, most people take only a single tablet a day, and in the future
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