Courage, Community and the Quest for Cure: A Modern HIV Story
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While World AIDS Day (1 December) is an opportunity to both reflect on the legacy of those who have sadly passed from AIDS-related illnesses, and celebrate the courage and humanity of people living with HIV, our dedicated clinicians and researchers maintain their admiration of this community all year-round.
“It’s like a family, it’s a great community,” Associate Professor James McMahon, an Infectious Diseases clinician and Head of Infectious Diseases Clinical Research at The Alfred said.
In particular, the strength of the relationship between this community of clinicians, researchers and people living with HIV serves as a strong source of inspiration for ongoing efforts to discover an HIV cure.
Alastair*, almost a decade on from first receiving his HIV diagnosis, is particularly determined to assist researchers in their cure journeys.
“If we can get rid of HIV and find the cure for HIV, people when they contract it won’t have to go through that absolute terror of knowing they have something for life, wondering what everybody would think about them having HIV,” Alastair said. “And I think the more anybody can do to support finding the cure for HIV, the better, and I’ll be the first to put my hand up.”
Taking time out of their lives to contribute to the research, the voluntary participants of the latest HIV cure research being conducted at The Alfred bring a profound strength and selflessness to help move research forward.
Svyat*, another man living with HIV, said he even wonders if his own diagnosis might have come so that he could be a part of something bigger.
“The motivation for me participating in this research is to be a part of something important,” Svyat said. “It is an important mission, and a meaningful one.”
