8. Born this Way

In the final episode of A Positive Life, Sam Smith explores the experiences of young people in the UK who were born with HIV, and looks at what's next in the ongoing fight to end the HIV epidemic.

When we think about people who have lived with HIV for a long time, we often think about older people who lived through the AIDS crisis of the 1980s and 90s. People who remember the days before effective HIV treatments were discovered, and how the world changed when they finally arrived in 1996. But there's a whole generation of young people in the UK who have had HIV from birth. Many of them have lived with the virus for the same amount of time as much older people who we'd now consider long term survivors of the epidemic.

In this episode, we hear from Mercy Shibemba. She's 23 years old and has lived with HIV her entire life. She was born in the time after life saving HIV treatments had been discovered, which means she's always had access to medication that makes HIV a completely manageable health condition. So HIV shouldn't have a big impact on her life. But when she was told about her HIV status as a teenager, she discovered that her life was going to be deeply impacted anyway - because of the stigma that still persists around this virus.

Mercy shares how stigma around HIV forced her to live a double life, like a "really unglamorous Hannah Montana", and put emotional barriers between her and many of the people she was closest to in her life. She explains how the experiences of young people differ from those who acquire HIV later in life. And she shares how she's working to resist the impact of stigma in her life, and the lives of everyone living with HIV today.

As this series draws to a close, we hear from people we've met throughout the series, reflecting on what still needs to be done as we work to end the HIV epidemic once and for all. How do we make sure no one is left behind as we make progress towards that goal, no matter how marginalised they may be, or where in the world they live?

In "A Positive Life", singer Sam Smith presents stories of HIV in the UK over the last forty years. They hear from people who remember the earliest years of the AIDS crisis; the grassroots activists and marginalised communities who came together to fight stigma and raise public awareness; and a new generation living with effective treatments for HIV in a radically-changed world.

An Overcoat Media production for BBC Sounds

Producer: Arlie Adlington Assistant Producer: Emma Goswell Executive Producer: Steven Rajam Sound Mixing: Mike Woolley