Short film on HIV stereotypes is launched in Cork

A short film aiming to get people to look beyond “outdated assumptions and stereotypes” around HIV has been launched by the Sexual Health Centre in Cork.

The film, called My Day is the Same as Yours, features Gabriel Marttin de França, who lives with HIV and who works as the LGBT+ support worker at the Sexual Health Centre.

The film invites audiences to look beyond outdated assumptions and stereotypes and to recognise the shared humanity, relationships, aspirations, and everyday experiences of people living with HIV, according to the Sexual Health Centre.

Fiona Finn, executive director of the Sexual Health Centre, said: “This film is about people, not just HIV. It is about everyday life, relationships, visibility, resilience, and the right to live openly and with dignity.

“The short film gives us a powerful way to create empathy, open conversations, and remind audiences that living with HIV is not the defining story of a person’s life.”

“I often think that, as a society, we’ve failed to get one message out clearly enough: Today, a diagnosis of HIV is not life-limiting. Today, treatment is so effective that a person’s viral load can become undetectable — and when it’s undetectable, this means that virus cannot be transmitted to their sexual partners.”

Last year, findings published in the Irish Journal of Medical Science, which analysed over 6,000 serum samples from bloods tests ordered by GPs which were tested in eight hospital laboratories, revealed that analysis of bloodwork from more than 1,000 people from the Cork region found HIV antibodies in 1.05% of samples — approximately three times the national average. 

In its annual report for 2024, the Sexual Health Centre highlighted the stigma as it revealed that the centre provided 860 rapid HIV tests last year, as well as 677 HIV support and counselling sessions.

The film is available at https://eclv.ie/myday.