VAC AND LIVING POSITIVE VICTORIA CALL FOR SENSITIVE, ACCURATE REPORTING FOLLOWING NEWS OF CHARLIE SHEEN’S EXPECTED HIV DISCLOSURE

News that actor Charlie Sheen is expected to announce he is HIV positive in an interview with a US talk show is
today being widely reported by local and international media.
Living Positive Victoria and the Victorian AIDS Council (VAC) applaud Sheen for coming out as HIV-positive, and said the media will
play a vital role in shaping how this news affects people living with HIV.
Brent Allan, CEO of Living Positive Victoria, said, “All people living with HIV benefit when high profile people come out as HIV
positive, because this makes it easier for others to follow suit. The discussion we have now in the media has to focus on how
important coming out as HIV-positive is. It is a very difficult thing to do, and high profile celebrities who publicly disclose their HIV
status can be role models for other people living with HIV who don’t feel able to disclose their own HIV status.”
Allan continued, “However, when he and others are shamed and represented as either victims or perpetrators, any benefit from
his disclosure is nullified. We request that the media refrain from using language that stigmatises people living with HIV, such as
‘carrier’, ‘victim’, or ‘sufferer’. UNAIDS, governments, and clinical and community advocates all understand the damaging effects
that stigma has on driving the HIV response.”
Allan referred media to guidelines produced by the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations (AFAO), which outline best practise
for reporting on HIV.
The AFAO media guidelines can be found here: www.hivmediaguide.org.au
Simon Ruth, VAC CEO, added that media could also play a role in perpetuating HIV stigma, and cautioned media outlets to be
careful to ensure the facts reported around HIV are accurate.
“This is a crucial moment for how the media talks about HIV and about people living with HIV. We recognise that HIV is a challenging
topic to report, but the way media represents stories about HIV transmission and disclosure of HIV status can have a major impact
on the lives of people living with HIV and people at risk of HIV, such as gay men,” Ruth said.
Ruth also addressed news reports of Charlie Sheen saying the virus is “undetectable” in his system.
“We imagine by these comments Sheen is referring to ‘undetectable viral load’. Having an undetectable viral load does not mean
that a person is not HIV-positive, and it does not mean that they are free of HIV. However, a person living with HIV on effective
antiretroviral treatment can have HIV in their system at levels below current methods of detection (less than 20 copies of the virus
per mL of blood). We refer to this as having an ‘undetectable viral load’,” Ruth said.
“What we know from research is that it is unlikely that anyone with undetectable viral load can pass HIV on to others.”