Category Archives: Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs)
I’m Positive—World AIDS Day Documentary
Otis Harris Jr.
On World AIDS Day, Saturday, December 1, I’m Positive, a new documentary produced by the Kaiser Family Foundation and MTV, will introduce three young adults living with HIV. The documentary is part of a project called GYT: Get Yourself Tested, a campaign to encourage testing for STDs, including HIV. GYT is a sexual health public information partnership between the Kaiser Family Foundation and MTV.
NewPublicHealth spoke with cast member Otis Harris, who is an HIV/AIDS peer advocate who lives in Chicago.
NewPublicHealth: How old are you and how old were you when you found out that you were HIV positive?
Otis Harris Jr.: I am 25 years old and I was 22 [when I found out I was HIV positive].
NPH: What do you wish you had known then that you know now?
Otis Harris Jr.: I wish that I could have been a little more educated about the virus and what to look for and how to protect myself. And if I would have known what I know now then I probably wouldn’t have been infected.
NPH: People have been working on HIV/AIDS education efforts for so many years now, but clearly they weren’t getting through. What are the ways in which they didn’t communicate well and how can they communicate better?
