'They're at risk': Birmingham women share their experiences of life with HIV
Jackie and Rachel want more women to get tested
Last updated 2nd Mar 2021
Two Birmingham women are sharing their stories of living with HIV to try and get more women to get tested.
Figures from the National Aids Trust show, of the 98,552 people accessing HIV care in the UK in 2019, 30,388 were female - compared to 68,088 who were male.
New online research has also revealed just one in five adults have ever tested for HIV in the UK.
After 'It's A Sin' was first shown on TV, there was a huge rise in the number of people searching "can women get HIV" on Google.
So, we've been speaking to two women living with it.
Jackie's story:
"I was a late diagnosis, at the age of 55, they reckon I'd had it about five years.
"I was back and forth to the doctors for a few years with different symptoms.
"No one ever mentioned having a HIV test, and basically, I was so ill and one of the GPs put me in hospital immediately.
"I'd walked out of my job by then because I couldn't cope, my memory had gone, loss of hair, thrush in my mouth, PCP pneumonia.
"I was transferred after a week on critical care.
"For five years I was ignored, for being a middle-aged woman, no one thought to ask me for a HIV test.
"I was married with young children when it was all over the tele in the 80s of the gravestones, but I was so busy with married life, I didn't really take notice of it.
"My knowledge of it was absolute zilch, I didn't even realise women could get it.
"There's still a lot of women out there that don't realise they can catch it, the same as men.
"It's so important for women to have these check-ups regularly.
"It's time everybody knows they're at risk."
Rachel's story:
"I came down with the flu, in January 2015, couldn't get out of bed for a couple of weeks, really upset stomach.
"A couple of weeks passed, and the flu disappeared, but the upset stomach hadn't gone away, so I went to my GP, they gave me every test apart from HIV.
"In May, a relationship I was in ended, so I went for an STI check and it came back clear apart from the HIV.
"It was the last thing I expected, it hit me like a brick.
"It sounds ridiculous, but I'd been crying for 24 hours, so I'd got all these tissues full of tears and I didn't know what to do with them, I didn't want to put them in the bin, in case the person I lived with was going to contract it.
"Once I was diagnosed and educated by Heartlands, I understand, things like tears, it can't be transferred that way.
"I was diagnosed early, my immune system was not affected and I didn't have to go on my medication straight away.
"Once I went on my medication, I became undetectable within 10 days.
"I won't die of HIV or AIDS.
"I have a life expectancy as normal as everybody else.
"People are getting divorced, getting into relationships, STI checks are the last thing they think about, because even towards my age, pregnancy chances are limited, so you don't think about your sexual health.
"HIV does not discriminate."
Both Jackie and Rachel are supporting plans for a memorial in Birmingham for everyone affected by HIV and AIDS.
Thousands of pounds has already been raised to make it a reality.
Before you go, here are six things the Terrence Higgins Trust think "you should know" about HIV in the 2020s:
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