Well, for me I live with HIV every day, so an HIV-free Oregon is a future event. I expect
to have HIV until I die. But if it were possible that I didn't have it, it would mean a lot
of money I didn't have to spend on medication. It would mean a lot of time I didn't have
to go to the doctor regularly. It would mean a lot more people who I didn't have to worry
about whether there would be stigma or not, so we're really talking about stigma free,
less medication, less medical attention and all of that would be really good stuff.
My name's Robert Dinoche, and my thoughts on an Oregon without HIV. Our state will be
without stigma, without shame, without despair, without the fear of giving blood. Our state
would be filled with hope again. Fulfilling lives and we will in turn to cherishing little
things in life.
What an HIV-free Oregon, HIV-free Oregon means to me is vaccinations for the new people so
there is no more newly diagnosed HIV cases, and the future generation of people that are,
or the current generation of people that are HIV positive will live on to live their meaningful
lives the best that they can.
And I am a long-term survivor of 36 years of living with HIV, which means it's been
over half my adult life. It's hard for me to say what it would be like. I would just
like to see a generation to grow up without having to go through what I had to go through.
From my early 20s until now I have lived with this, and no one should have to live with
this and all of its side effects.
An HIV-free Oregon means that we accomplish creating a state where everybody has equitable
access to education, the healthcare that they need, housing for their family and access
to transportation and healthy food. We need to create a state that is free of racism,
discrimination against people and including who, who people choose to love. I believe
we will get there together, an HIVfree Oregon, is within our reach.
And what an HIV-free Oregon looks like to me is everyone with access to healthcare and
excellent doctor/patient relationships. An informed and educated communicate around health
and healthcare issues of all kinds. Allowing individuals and community members to overcome
internal and external stigma, and men and women using prep and all forms of harm-reduction
approach and methods of prevention. Addressing medical and mental health, as well as dual
diagnosis issues. Just healthy men, women, children, fathers, mothers, sons and daughters,
healthy families, healthy communities. That is what an HIVfree Oregon looks like to me.
Okay. HIV-free Oregon means that people do not perceive those with HIV/AIDS as SDIs,
etc. as being less than anybody else. Everyone has a legal access to all treatment services
that are given to those with HIV/AIDS SDIs, etc. So I think that is our particular world
which is coming pretty soon. The stigmentation that is attached to SDIs and HIV and AIDS
and so on will be diminished and we will live in a very happy and unified society, which
is what we all are entitled to.
I have worked in HIV prevention and care programs for the past 18 years, and I am very proud
of the work that we're doing right now together to end new HIV infections in Oregon. We have
new tools and the expertise, and as a community we've come together to develop a plan of action.
Ending new HIV infections means that all Oregonians will know their HIV status, that prevention
is working and that all persons are benefitting equally from HIV medical care and treatment.
I want to thank all of the community members from around the state that took the time to
develop Oregon's first statewide-integrated HIV care and prevention plan. The direction
has been set to end new HIV infections in Oregon, and we believe that the time to act
is right now.
An HIV-free Oregon is built on the resiliencies of our communities. I feel like we need to
work together as a community to find more advanced treatments to not only treat those
living with HIV so that they no longer have the virus circulating in the body, but also
to vaccinate to prevent new infections. I think that we need to build a community based
off of equity and making sure that people have the same access and opportunity to be
successful and to support themselves in making healthy choices, the first choice in their
life.
Wow, what that means is we are at a clear point where we're changing chapters and it's
a new day. I worked as a nurse back in the early 1980s taking care of clients whose condition
didn't even have a name, and when I look back over the years of all the researchers that
dedicated their time and their expertise, all the advocates, all the people living with
HIV, all of the work that's gone on, all of the suffering and loss that's gone on, and
now I think wow we have the tools and we have a lot of hope, and we just need to move forward
into the future in a collaborative way. It's going to take all of us and it's doable and
that's fantastic. Thanks for asking.
What does an HIV-free Oregon mean to me? For me it means a happier and healthier Oregon.
It means a place with less fear and a lot more hope.