"Science has come so far" - we meet three people challenging the stigma about living with HIV
For World AIDS Day 2022, we meet three men who are planning long and healthy lives after their HIV diagnosis
"We're in space age times, but with stone age minds" - Aled Osborne sums up one of the biggest issues facing the HIV community in 2022.
If you grew up through the 1980s and 1990s, your perceptions about HIV could be a long way off the modern realities of living with the virus.
Incredible advances in science and medicine, now means that regular treatment (normally one or two pills a day) can suppress the virus so much, it becomes undetectable within the body.
And if its undetectable, its untransmittable (or U=U) and that means you can no longer pass it on to others.
It's a far cry from the days of the 'Monolith' TV campaign from 1987, created at a time that HIV could lead to an AIDS related death.
There are around 100,000 people in the UK living with HIV.
There are fears that old-fashioned views about the virus are preventing some people from getting tested, which could put them, and people around them, at risk.
Campaigners and HIV charities are sharing their stories with us for World AIDS Day to give people a reality-check about living with HIV, and to celebrate the scientific developments that have got us to this point.
George's story
George Westwood was diagnosed with HIV at the age of 19, after a routine health check.
He admits at the time he was unaware of the scientific advancements that had taken place over the last few decades.
He told us: "They said I was HIV positive, and the easiest way to describe it was like in the movies when something is happening and you just hear a ringing tone, nothing is going in.
"You can't take it in, you're sat there thinking 'What have I done?' I convinced myself while I was in that room that I wasn't going to be around for that next week"
Doctors explained to George what would happen next, the treatment he could take, and how he could still expect to live a long and healthy life.
But it took a while for the science to sink in: "I rang my mum as soon as I got out of the clinic, and she was around during the 'Don't Die of Ignorance' campaign, and I thought I have to convince my mum it's going to be ok, and it's through convincing all of these people that you slowly convince yourself."
George now works to tackle and challenge stigma around HIV at the National AIDS Trust.
He's faced discrimination himself: "The worst one was I wanted a tattoo to celebrate my HIV journey, and how far I'd come - and I was refused.
"It takes you right back to that dark corner of the room, sitting in the shower, cleaning yourself because you think you're dirty, and they are not nice memories.
The tattooists blamed "insurance" as the reason they couldn't give George his tattoo: "They said they weren't comfortable tattooing me, but it's on them as tattoo parlour to know about blood borne viruses and I think more fool you for not knowing, not more fool me."
Gareth's story
Wales rugby legend Gareth Thomas revealed his HIV diagnosis in 2019.
In 2022, he travelled around the country in his "Tackle HIV" bus, challenging the stigma that people still have about the virus.
"Anyone can get the virus, but the only way to know is if you get tested.
"Stigma acts as a barrier for testing. That was created in the 80s, when HIV was reported as a 'death sentence' or as a 'gay plague.'
"Those myths and misunderstandings still exist."
Gareth says he understands there's a long way to go to educate the nation about the realities of life with HIV - but that's a journey he's willing to go on.
He told us: "If people don't want to shake my hand, or people move away from me in a restaurant they do it because of fear and out of a sense of wanting to keep themselves safe because they feel if they come near me they're going to transmit the virus on to themselves and that isn't fact.
"It's up to me to educate them to know that if they did share the same knife and fork as me, if they did share the same plate, if they did shake my hand then gone are the days of the thought that that could transmit the virus.
"We now live in a society where I take one tablet a day, modern medicine prevents my HIV progressing into AIDS and I can live a normal, happy, healthy life"
Aled's story
Aled Osborne was diagnosed as living with HIV in 2012.
He now works for the charity Brigstowe, educating people and engaging with the community around HIV issues.
He's a huge champion of the medical benefits that scientific investment has brought to the table, including daily pills that suppress the virus, and tablets that you can take if you're at risk of contracting the virus.
But he knows only too well that stigma still exists: "We're in space age times, but with stone age minds.
"For people living with HIV, a lot of the time it is self-stigma because of what they've been taught about what HIV means, and that is 'shame', that is 'dirty', and something to be feared.
"And for the wider community it's that fear, and that (question of) 'Am I going to die?' that is stopping people from getting tested, because they'd rather not know, than know and have to deal with it."
Aled has told us he's faced discrimination on dating sites from people who aren't clued up about HIV: "Some of the apps allow you to disclose your status in your profile, and whether you're undetectable.
"People can outright message you saying 'Why are you using this app' 'You shouldn't be looking for a relationship' or 'You shouldn't be looking for sex' or 'it's people like you who are killing the community.'"
Aled says there needs to be more education about life with HIV, but until that comes, he'll continue to tackle the stigma: "I've become use to dealing with it. Is it something we should have to deal with? No, but I'm a realist and we don't live in a perfect world so I'm always expecting stigma to happen."
Need more information about HIV?
Get more information about HIV at your local GP or sexual health clinic
You can also read up on the issue with charities like the National AIDS Trust
and Positively UK