“MY measurements are
40 x 60 cm. I was printed on high brightness paper and my weight is 250 grams.
I’m just like any other poster. Except for one thing: I’m HIV positive,” reads
the viral poster that has now reached Iloilo’s shores.
What sets it apart is a drop of blood from 27-year-old
Faustine Luell Angeles, Jr. – an outdoor and extreme sports enthusiast who’s
been diagnosed HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) Positive for 4 years now.
Would you be willing to make contact with such a poster?
“It’s exactly what you’ve just read. I’m living with the
virus. At this point you may be taking a step back, wondering if I offer any
danger,” the poster continues. “My answer is: No way.”
“HIV can’t survive outside the human body for more than one
hour. Therefore, the blood that I carry is harmless. Just as living with
someone who is HIV positive,” is the campaign’s positive message.
Kicking off Pedal for HIV’s Positive Poster Tour De
Pilipinas, the ad was introduced to the Iloilo City government and members of the
local media on March 14, and soon it will be posted in key locations around the
city. Faustine Luell Angeles Jr. founded Pedal for HIV in February 2015, as a
campaign group that promotes HIV and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS)
awareness through cycling and other sports-related activities.
Just August of last year, Faustine volunteered to be the
first Asian person to give blood for the worldwide viral “I am a HIV Positive
poster” campaign.
Started by Brazilian civic group Grupo de Incentivo a Vida
(GIV), the HIV awareness movement has reached a global audience, being
translated to several languages and shared to different HIV at-risk communities
all of over the world.
Faustine shares that he’s given blood for almost 1,000 HIV
Positive Posters now, a drop for each, most of them posted in key cities all
over the Philippines.
Recent reports have shown that Iloilo has the largest
prevalence of HIV in Western Visayas, regional statistics revealing that out of
the total 1,028 HIV and AIDS cases in the region, Iloilo City recorded 263.
Iloilo has also shown the largest swell of HIV victims, among
the 682 total newly reported cases in the Philippines, 31 cases have been
attributed to Western Visayas, accounting for 5 percent of the new population.
The Positive Poster Tour de Pilipinas campaign aims to erase
the stigma and discrimination tied to HIV/AIDS largely spread due to a lack of
public information. Wishing to provide accessible facts on the illness, as well
as encourage positive conversation and awareness, the advocacy wants to break
ground for a new understanding of HIV, especially here in Iloilo.
“Because being HIV positive does not determine who you are.
Whether you are a poster or a human being,” encourages the HIV Postive poster,
ending on a compelling message - “If prejudice is an illness, information is
the cure.”
Tour de Pilipinas is organized in partnership with The Red
Whistle, an HIV awareness campaign that uses the arts and social media in its
advocacy to normalize HIV and AIDS.
