World AIDS Day, 'Why Did I Survive?'

[appalachiablue]

- 'World AIDS Day: 'Why did I survive?,' DW, Dec. 1, 2020. - Excerpts:

For most people, an HIV diagnosis in the 1980s was an automatic death sentence. But many survived for longer than anyone would have expected — like Gerhard from Germany, who has lived with the virus for over 30 years. "At first I just didn't want to know if I was HIV-positive," Gerhard Malcherek remembers. "I went to the hospital, and I begged the doctors not to tell me." But they did — and the news was bad.

Now Malcherek leads a life like many other German retirees. "When you're old you tend to move to the countryside," he laughs, speaking on the phone from his house in a small village outside of Cologne. He enjoys long walks with his dog, does some voluntary work and spends time with his partner: An idyllic life for any 68-year-old. But being able to enjoy his autumn years was never something that Malcherek took for granted. He was diagnosed with the human immunodeficiency virus in 1986. He was among the first people in the city of Cologne to receive the diagnosis and has lived with HIV ever since.




- When Malcherek received his diagnosis, HIV was "basically a death sentence."


The origins of HIV: HIV is a virus that attacks cells that help the body fight infection. People with the virus thus become more vulnerable to other infections and diseases, and if left untreated it can lead to the disease AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome), which is lethal..The epidemic has murky origins but was first identified in the US in 1981 among gay men..The virus quickly spread around the world and became one of the worst epidemics in world history. The effects can be serious — and rapid. In the 1980s, a diagnosis with HIV was "basically a death sentence," Gerhard explains..
In the 1980s governments in the US under Republican President Ronald Reagan and the UK under Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher were slow to offer help to gay men at the dawn of the epidemic. Victims were blamed for their orientations; religious leaders labeled the disease an act of God meant to punish homosexuality. In Germany, too, some HIV sufferers faced stigmatization:

"There were people who were bullied or discriminated against by landlords," Gerhard remembers. "But I never had problems like that."

To mark World AIDS Day 2020, German health authorities and AIDS activists have begun a campaign against stigmatization, which continues in Germany, too, albeit at a lower level: The association of private health insurers in Germany presented the result of a survey in which one in five Germans admitted to having reservations about sharing office space with HIV carriers.

"I was lucky, I had a good job. I could always get medicine under my public health insurance. When I got really ill, in the early 1990s, I was pensioned off from my job, aged 40. My boss was very understanding."

Gerhard's partner, who comes from the US, settled in Germany in part because of the better health care available for HIV-positive people...

More, https://www.dw.com/en/world-aids-day-why-did-i-survive/a-55760351

[LuvNewcastle]

1. I know a couple of people who got sick back then

and are still alive. One friend died about 5 years ago. Generally, the ones I knew who got out of the party scene lasted, and the ones who remained in it passed on. There are always exceptions, though. There's this one guy I know who is a bartender and he drinks every night and he's always smoked. He's had a couple of close calls with his health, but seems to always manage to pull through. He's a nice guy, so I hope he lasts. I wish all the other nice ones I knew had had a chance.

[appalachiablue]

2. Good story, I'm happy for this German fellow. Some folks,

like the bartender you mention have good luck and maybe good genes I think.

My little brother who was very healthy and happy didn't make it, gone in 1992.

He had a great outlook, was bright, didn't smoke or drink and got excellent care in NYC and France.

If it hadn't been for obstruction by the Reagan & Thatcher admins. things would have been different.

[murielm99]

3. I am sorry about your brother.

We have seen this obstruction shit before, haven't we?

[appalachiablue]

7. Thanks, this epidemic is a reminder but will become

more manageable soon I think. Yes as ever, many lives suffered and lost because of monsters in power.

[LuvNewcastle]

4. They were horrible, evil people.

So many of our problems today, especially the anger and rancor from the RW, can be laid at Reagan's feet. He was the original ogre who was celebrated by the religious right. Thank God for the progress during the Obama administration that addressed some of the injustices of the Reagan/Falwell era.

I'm sorry for the loss of your little brother. Some of the people I cared for back then still haunt me today. The losses were so tough at the time, but I'm so glad I got the chance to know them. It's nice to run into people who knew those people back then and reminisce about them. Life is all about loss, and our memories are the consolation prizes. I hope you still have friends and family around who can remember your brother with you.

[appalachiablue]

6. Definitely, we remember him in the most positive way.

He was one of the brightest in a fairly large family, a special person who got along well with everyone.

In the 80s I worked some with local Aids patients with eye issues needing large print and audio books, magnifiers, etc. You maybe worked more closely with individuals.

This foul epidemic is a reminder but will become more manageable in the next year or so. As far as sickness and epidemics, the family hasn't been hit as badly as some others. And yes we really detested Reagan, Nancy, Falwell, Bryant and more. Here's to better times ahead.

[LuvNewcastle]

8. +1000

[Skittles]

5. former coworker and still a friend has had it since the mid 80's

he is doing well; I'll be doing his Christmas card today

[appalachiablue]

9. Good for him, enjoy!

[BigDemVoter]

10. What a terrible and traumatic time it was.

Just about everybody who got sick in the early days died. And many who survived until the anti-retroviral drugs came out in 1996 died too, as it was too late.

None of us ever envisioned a world where AIDS could be controlled with a single medication and treated as a chronic condition.

I don't even like to think of those days. It was impossible to keep up with the deaths because just suddenly, people one knew just weren't around anymore. I would be too afraid to ask about anybody I hadn't seen, as the news was almost always bad.

And while I'm on the topic of AIDS, I have to rant a little bit about those monstrous, motherfucking republicans like Jesse Helms and Jerry Falwell. I won't EVER forget those two and their ilk. Yeah, those are the same ones who support the orange swine.

[Skittles]

11. yes

I knew people who died, and I also knew people who made AIDS jokes.........conservatives have never been "pro-life"