Prince Harry says “every single one of us has a duty” to get tested for HIV
Prince Harry highlighted the importance of knowing your HIV status this National HIV Testing Week in a discussion about tackling stigma.
Speaking with friend and campaigner Gareth Thomas for the latter’s organisation, Tackle HIV, the two discussed it being 35 years since Princess Diana opened the UK’s first specialist HIV/AIDS unit at Middlesex Hospital.
Harry called his late mother’s work “unfinished business” and committed to continuing her advocacy for those living with HIV. “I feel obligated to try and continue that as much as possible,” he told the former rugby player. “I can never fill her shoes, especially in this particular space, what she did, what she stood for and how vocal she was on this issue.” Diana challenged HIV stigma at the height of the AIDS epidemic and is credited in playing a major role in changing attitudes towards it in the UK.
During her visit to the aforementioned hospital in April 1987, she said: “HIV does not make people dangerous to know. You can shake their hands and give them a hug.
