HIV Positive Speaker To Feature At Public Forum

As part of the activities organized for HIV Awareness Month, the Department of Health will be hosting a public forum on June 24th, which will feature a speech by Mrs. Lolisa Gibson-Hunte, who found out at the age of 17 that she was HIV positive.

Mrs. Gibson-Hunte [pictured] resides in Brooklyn, NY with her husband and son who are both HIV negative, and has dedicated herself to educating others HIV/AIDS.

Mrs Gibson-Hunte’s website says: “At the tender age of 17 Lolisa became ill and soon found out that she was HIV positive and had been infected with the virus since birth.

“Lolisa embraced this news as she had embraced so many other things that most people might have seen as unbearable obstacles.

“She decided to control her own destiny by taking the initiative to fully educate herself about this virus that she previously knew nothing about.

“From that point on, Lolisa has been on a mission to raise awareness about this epidemic nationally, in addition to educating her family and friends about the importance of HIV/AIDS education.”

The fourm will be held at The Bermuda Society of Arts at City Hall on June 24th from 5:45pm to 7:30pm.

Other panelists at the forum will include: Kim Ball, Public Health Nurse; Dy-Juan DeRoza, Assessment Officer; Carolyn Armstrong, S.T.A.R; Dr. Michael Ashton, Infectious Disease Physician; Dr. Wilbert Warner, Internist; Dr. Wendy Woods, OB/GYN.

Last year, then-Minister of Health Zane DeSilva said that since 1982 more than 700 people have been diagnosed with HIV in Bermuda and today it is estimated that there are over 300 persons living with HIV/AIDS on the island.

Mr DeSilva said that the annual incidence of HIV has been decreasing steadily since 2008 [where there were 22 new reported cases] compared to 2012 [where there were six new cases reported as of December]. The age of these new cases ranged from persons in their mid-twenties to persons over sixty.

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