Being on NHS-funded PrEP is shameful and HIV+ gay men have a duty to promote condoms

By | 1st March 2017

PrEP-promoters love to manipulate the facts and spin situations. In their slanted world, a gay man taking PrEP is being “responsible” and “saves the NHS money” compared to the even-greater lifetime cost of becoming positive.

Let’s get one thing clear… Costing the NHS a lot of money if you can easily avoid it (by using inexpensive condoms) is NOT the action of a “responsible” member of society. Quite the opposite.

Many gay men who are on PrEP and most who become HIV+ immediately become a financial burden on society. In that they take out far more in costs than they contribute. There must be very few HIV+ gay men who pay enough tax to cover the annual cost of their NHS treatment alone.

PrEP users can grow a spine and use a condom instead. For HIV+ men there are other ways to contribute and give back to society besides financial (paying tax or fundraising). One way is to make sure that others learn from your mistakes and don’t themselves become a drain.

The obvious way to do that is to promote the hell out of inexpensive condoms. Both in public if you consider yourself to be a campaigner or spokesman and also in your private life with the partners you meet.

Set a good example. As someone who is costing society a huge amount of money you have a moral duty.

Some gay men who are HIV+ do exactly this and prevent new infections. Indeed it’s why many of our best known organisations were originally set up 25-30 years ago. Often with funds raised by the LGBT community itself.

Unfortunately, since then, things have gone badly wrong. We live in a selfish “me” society. The Century of the Self. “I’m so important that any amount of money spent on me is justified…” Infecting yourself with an incurable disease is being presented as a “choice” and “right” by twisted people.

These days many of the loudest Prepsters and gay (ill)health unprofessionals (quite a few of whom are themselves HIV+) subtly undermine condom use, demand expensive PrEP on the NHS and have been encouraging bareback sex for years through their inept and sometimes sneaky policies due to their personal liking for “condomless” sex.

One of their myths is that these complicated crackpot strategies will “end HIV.” We don’t think so and they certainly won’t reduce overall costs for the NHS.

We foresee an increase in new HIV infections due to bareback being normalised, the fast spread of resistant strains of HIV and other STIs for the same reason, more STIs in general and costs due to unknown side effects from PrEP in decades to come.

The more they and others undermine condoms and spread the message that being HIV+ is no big deal, no stigma, and even some sort of wonderful “community,” the more barebacking, new infections of all sorts and health issues we will see. With greater costs for the NHS and wider society.

Of course some of these organisations themselves suck cash from the Health Service and local authorities. Ending HIV and reducing STIs could well mean less funding and jobs for them.

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