Southeast Ohio Care and Prevention

Behind every HIV status is a human being — with dreams, families, fears, resilience, and a story you may never hear.

Stigma still hurts.
Social stigma. Community stigma. Family stigma. Workplace stigma. Even stigma within health-care spaces, where people should feel safest.
Some people living with HIV have been forced to change where they collect their medication — not because treatment failed, but because trust did. Because their status was shared without consent. Because confidentiality was broken. And once people knew, the stares began. The whispers followed. The judgment became loud.

No one should ever have to choose between their health and their dignity.
Health facilities must be safe spaces. Communities must be safe spaces. Homes must be safe spaces.
People living with HIV deserve respect, privacy, and compassion — not punishment for surviving.

HIV is a medical condition, not a moral failure.
Status does not define character.
Treatment works. People living with HIV can and do live full, healthy lives.
If we truly want to end HIV, we must first end stigma and discrimination.
Be kind. Be informed. Be human.
Because you don’t know their story, but your actions can become part of it.

HIV DOES NOT MEAN THE END.
SILENCE DOES.
HIV is not a punishment.
It is not a death sentence.
It is not a reason to be ashamed.
What hurts people living with HIV the most is not the virus — it’s the whispers, the rejection, the judgment, the fear of being seen as “less than human.”

Some people are afraid to test.
Some are afraid to disclose.
Some are afraid to take treatment openly.
And some are afraid to love someone who is HIV positive.
That fear is what keeps HIV alive.

Today, HIV is manageable.
Treatment works.
People living with HIV can live long, healthy lives, can fall in love, have HIV-negative partners, and have HIV-negative children.

✅ Undetectable = Untransmittable (U=U).

But none of this matters if we keep spreading stigma instead of truth.
So let’s change the conversation.
Let’s choose compassion over judgment.
Education over fear.
Support over silence.
Because anyone can be affected — but everyone deserves dignity, care, and love.

Test. Treat. Support. Respect.
That’s how we end HIV — together.

I’m an HIV positive woman who is also 28 weeks pregnant.

No one can convince me that advocating for yourself at the doctor’s office can’t change the way doctors treat patients.

Since finding out I was pregnant, I was very transparent about my desire to breastfeed. My HIV infectious disease doctor who I believe is an excellent provider, is very old school and regimented in her thinking. She immediately dismissed my wishes. Said no, I couldn’t and shouldn’t. Etc

I brought up the research I did, the facts I found, but because it was coming from me and not her own research she basically didn’t want to hear what I was saying.

Fast forward 5 months, I switched my OBGYN provider but kept my I.D. Doctor.

I saw her today. The first thing she asked me was “you still want to breastfeed, right? I was doing my own research and saw that many women are now safely breastfeeding their children and I support you on your journey” 😱🥹

She referenced the study I mentioned to her all those months ago lol

Anyway, below are her notes and her referral to a high risk pediatrician for my baby boy once he is born!

When people ask why I’m going so hard, THIS IS WHY! To dismantle the stigma surrounding HIV in all places, even the doctor’s office!

Please come and get tested today! Know your status!

Join our first meeting of 2025 and help us welcome new staff Rachael and JoAnn!!!