‘I help HIV positive people - Svetlana Izambaeva’ film launch

It’s not customary to talk about HIV in wider-society, but this approach doesn’t lead to positive outcomes. HIV remains a large problem for Russia - many people suffer from stigma, discrimination, and the “inability to breathe freely”.

The Svetlana Izambaeva Foundation was founded in 2008 with the goal of improving the quality of life for families raising children living with HIV. The Foundation works to help people accept a diagnosis and realise their full potential.

Life4me+ previous reported on the annual summer gathering of children, parents, HIV specialists and activists - the main purpose of which is to teach teenagers to live well with HIV and tackle stigma.

The Foundation’s new social project, ‘Secrets’, which has just launched on YouTube aims to help young people talk about topics which are often kept silent.

Aș part of the of the ‘Secrets’ project, the film ‘I help HIV positive people - Svetlana Izambaeva’, which discusses HIV openly and honestly without myths and stereotypes. Specialists explain in clear language what HIV is and how it differs from AIDS. Activists show, through personal example, how you can live with a HIV diagnosis and be successful - even build a family and give birth to healthy children.

Infectious diseases specialist, Ekaterina Stepanova, believes that the biggest problem facing people living with HIV is not the virus itself, but people’s attitudes:

"The medical problem of HIV has largely been solved: therapy is free of charge, it is effective, and you can always choose an alternative if something does not fit. The problem of HIV, in my opinion, is social. I see people with HIV suffering from injustice, stigma, and discrimination. They're "dying" now socially, not physically. Society still stigmatises HIV infection?”

How do children living with HIV feel about society’s perceptions? What are they to blame for? Whose responsibility is the quiet and happy lives of people living with HIV?

Medical psychologist, and head of the Foundation, Svetlana Izambaeva, raises these difficult questions in the film:

“Why does a child have to take on such a burden of responsibility? They’re just a child. Why are we telling them to hide their status? Why can't celebrities and politicians living with HIV lead by example and show that HIV is not the end of the world? In an ideal world I’d like to see all people living with HIV be able to say “I live with HIV, and what's wrong with that?”

The Foundation hopes that all people, regardless of HIV status, will watch the film as HIV is an issue that can affect anyone. As a society we should work together to make the life of every people living with HIV as free and comfortable as possible. 

HIV is not a death sentence, it’s just another health condition. Let’s not fear the unknown, but instead learn and share from one another.