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#BundleUpInRed: It's HIV Awareness Week in Greater Sudbury

Thousands of red scarves being distributed across the city
261118_AP_red_scarves
James Gough, who was diagnosed with HIV in 2001, was among the guest speakers for the launch of HIV Awareness Week in Greater Sudbury and the #BundleUpInRed campaign that will see more than 2,000 red scarves distributed throughout the city. Richard Rainville, executive director,  Réseau Access Network, shows off one the scarves available. (Arron Pickard)

Love yourself enough to take the responsibility to get tested for HIV and AIDS, says a man who was diagnosed with HIV in 2001.

James Gough contracted HIV through needle sharing. He became addicted to drugs in trying to deal with the deaths of his parents, his grandparents, his daughter and other friends, he said. 

“That drove my addiction to opiates and cocaine,” he said. “It was just such overwhelming loss, and I was just trying to cope. That was the only way I knew how.”

Several years after testing positive for HIV, Gough started to reach out to agencies like Réseau Access Network and the Ontario HIV Treatment Network, and through those connections, and the more he reconnected with the community, the less he used drugs.

“These connections helped me deal with the loss to the point that I was able to stop using, and I've been clean now for 10 years,” he said.

While he may be sober, Gough still has to deal with being HIV positive. 

“It has been rough,” he said. “Fatigue is my biggest issue. I wake up tired and ready to go back to bed again. Weight loss is another ongoing issue, as is muscle weakness. The medication I'm on now doesn't cause as many side effects, but they do cause bone density and muscle loss, and with that comes a bit of pain."

He said he's learned to manage his pain through meditation and healthier eating rather than going back to opiates.

“This used to be a death sentence, but now we can live happy, normal lives, even start families,” Gough said on Monday at the launch of HIV Awareness Week at RBC. “There are many organizations that help educate the public, but people still have a perceived stigma on the virus, but campaigns like HIV Awareness Week fill me with a sense of hope.”

HIV Awareness Week has a full schedule of events happening in Greater Sudbury. Residents are encouraged to wear a red scarf and participate in Réseau Access Network's #BundleUpInRed campaign. More than 2,000 red scarves are being distributed throughout the city, and you can find them tied around trees, parking meters and lamp posts. They are free to anyone in need.

The majority of the scarves were made by RBC employees and their families.

HIV Awareness Week events include:

Tuesday is known as Giving Tuesday, and there will be HIV testing and information at Laurentian University in the atrium and Room L523 from 9-11 a.m., as well as at Northwood Clinic on Elm Street.

Students from Marymount Academy, École secondaire du Sacré-Couer and Lasalle Secondary School will be putting up scarves around the schools as part of Giving Tuesday.

On Wednesday, M'Chigeeng Health Fair will have HIV testing, information and access to overdose prevention, including Naloxone.

Cambrian College will have an HIV information booth in the main foyer, and there will be community outreach at the Sudbury Women's Centre with information and testing referrals, as well as access to overdose prevention.

Friday is the Out of the Cold Dinner with information and referrals available.

Saturday, Dec. 1 is World AIDS Day, and the Ontario Aboriginal HIV/AIDS Strategy will host HIV beaded ribbon making in celebration of National Aboriginal HIV Awareness Week.


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Arron Pickard

About the Author: Arron Pickard

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