Islanders living with HIV share their stories on World AIDS Day

Tom Hilton was living in San Francisco when Magic Johnson shocked America.

It wasn't one of Johnson's signature layups or flashy passes. It was in 1991 whenhe, one of the greatest NBA players in history, announced he had contracted HIV.

Hilton recalls those days in California vividly.Right around the time of Johnson's announcement, the expat Islander was experiencing night sweats anda sickness like never before.

"Holy cow," he recalled thinking."If Magic Johnson can contract HIV, I sure as heck can contract HIV."

Within a day it went from whoever was in the roomor at the hospital, word got spread through the system. It just went so fast.Vance Ford

What he quickly realized was that he likely had the diseasetoo, but that his testing "absolutely positively had to be anonymous" a critical first step for anyone, he said, who believed they could have the disease.

"I fully anticipated that I was going to be positive, but I needed to know that I was the only person who knew that so that I could work through it in my way on my time," he said.

Now52 years old, Hilton has moved back to P.E.I. and has spent half his life living with HIV.

With World AIDS Day onFriday, he and another Islanderspoke to CBC'sIsland Morningabout their experience living with the disease.

Anonymous testing'fundamental part of any strategy'

"I have to believe that anonymity is an important factor for a lot of people. Without anonymity Iwould not have got tested, I know that," Hilton said.

It's for that reason, he added, that"why on Earth there is no anonymous testing on P.E.I." is something he can't answer.

"If you take my story and multiply it, about the importance of anonymity, that has got to be a fundamental part of any strategy to facilitate people taking that step of getting tested."

On Prince Edward Island thereis no anonymous testing andit's a fight that PEERSAlliance, formerly AIDS PEI, has been waging for for a long time.

• Anonymous testing needed, says AIDS PEI
• For 1st time, over half of people with HIV taking medications

According to Cybelle Rieber, executive director of the PEERS Alliance, without anonymous testing Canada will struggle to meet its commitment to the United Nations.

In 2015, Canada committed to the UN's 2020 goal of having90 per centof all people living with HIV knowing their HIV status, 90 per cent of people receivingantiretroviral therapy and 90 per cent of people receiving therapy to haveviral suppression.

We know that at least 20 per cent of people living with HIV don't know their status If we don't up testing herethen we are not going to reach that.CybelleRieber

"If we hear on P.E.I. want to be part of that 90-90-90, and as a Canadian province testing is a huge piece of that," Rieber said.

"We know that at least 20 per cent of people living with HIV don't know their status. If we don't up testing herethen we are not going to reach that."

'If I could have kept that to myself'

Vance Ford was one of the Canadians who didn't know his status. He learnedhe hadthe virus on New Year's Day in2001.

Ford said he had a history of drug use and has been in and out of jail. At thetime of his diagnosishe was at the Provincial Correctional Centre atSleepy Hollow.

After having a seizure in jail, he was rushed to the hospitaland told of his diagnosis. It soon seemed like the world was judging him, he said.

"The situation I was in, the lifestyle Iwas in, within a day it went from whoever was in the roomor at the hospital, word got spread through the system. It just went so fast," he said.

"It leads into the stigma attached, if Icould have kept that to myself and it didn't go through the community so fast, Iwouldn't have the stigma that's been attached with HIV."

Asking for more to be done

In addition to anonymous testing,Hilton and Ford are pressing for several other accommodations for Islanders with HIV.

Hilton, for example, said he spends roughly $500 every year to meet with a doctor in Halifax for about five minutes. He saidthe province would be better off hiring its own specialist or at least have some sort of online program to meet with a doctor.

Rieber also said more can be done regarding needle exchanges, as sites outside of Summerside and Charlottetown are underutilized. She said that may have to do with longer hours and more available days to exchange needles.

In the absence of anonymous HIV testing on P.E.I., she said there is something called non-nominal testing, where the test is assigned a number, rather than a name, which she said"is a step in the right direction."

• MORE P.E.I. NEWS |P.E.I. farmer rebuilding his community in his basement
• MORE P.E.I. NEWS |Deli counter closed after car hits grocery store wall