Watch: VICE TV Documentary for HIV Long-Term Survivors Awareness Day, Featuring Amida Care Member
June 4 2021
Saturday, June 5, is HIV Long-Term Survivors Awareness Day, honoring long-term survivors of HIV and raising awareness of their needs, issues and journeys. This year also marks the 40th Anniversary of the first officially reported cases of what would later become known as AIDS. As we reflect on what has changed since the early days of the AIDS pandemic, we appreciate the journey and perseverance of our members who are long-term survivors living with HIV/AIDS. We are proud to help our members access treatment to achieve an undetectable viral load, allowing them to live their best, healthiest lives. #UequalsU
In observance of the anniversary, VICE TV’s new documentary VICE VERSA: The Neglected Pandemic, 40 Years of HIV and AIDS takes a comprehensive look at what it means to be living with HIV in the United States in 2021 and what still needs to be done to end the HIV epidemic.
Narrated by long-term HIV survivor Jonathan Van Ness, best known from the Netflix series “Queer Eye,” “VICE VERSA” features Lailani Muniz, an Amida Care member and the COO of the New York Transgender Bodybuilding Federation, along with her husband Sabastian. In the film, Lailani, who was diagnosed with HIV in 2006, talks about her experience as a transgender woman of color (one of the populations hardest hit by HIV). The couple also discusses the importance of PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) for Sabastian, who is HIV negative. Serodiscordant couples (when one partner is HIV-positive and the other is HIV-negative) like Lailani and Sabastian benefit greatly from PrEP, as it prevents one partner from transmitting the virus to the other.
On this HIV Long-Term Survivors Awareness Day, we recognize 40 years of HIV, reflect on the more than 32 million lives lost to AIDS-related illness, and celebrate the strength of those living with HIV today. Find out how to get involved with HIV Long-Term Survivors Awareness Day at hltsad.org and watch “VICE VERSA” at vicetv.com or on the VICE TV app.
We encourage you to share Amida Care’s #HLTSAD posts on your social media pages to help raise awareness. Remember to “like” Amida Care on Facebook www.facebook.com/AmidaCare and follow us on Twitter @AmidaCareNY and Instagram www.instagram.com/amidacare/