None of us are immune! That is why we should look to World AIDS Day, 1 December with more than a red ribbon, we should amend our sense of responsibility to our own selves, to the people close to us and try to lend our support to people who are HIV-positive.

According to data of the Ministry of Health’s National Programme for Prevention and Control of HIV/AIDS, in mid-2015 the official number of HIV carriers stood at 2,169 with 90 percent of the newly registered carriers having contracted the disease sexually. The tendency of a drop in the number of people infected by means of injected drugs continues, the result of preventive work with high-risk groups.

To learn more about the problems people with HIV in Bulgaria face and about the disease as such, we talk to Dr. Daniela Markova, chair of the I foundation which offers consultations and psychological support to people living with HIV and to their partners. Dr. Markova says that an HIV positive status does not mean one’s life is over. Suffice it to say that there is an individual in this country living with the virus since 1989 who is feeling fine, working and living a normal life; in fact the World Health Organization has declared the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome a chronic disease.

Dr. Markova, does every person with HIV develop AIDS?

“No, definitely not,” Dr. Markova says. “The WHO recommends an immediate start to treatment once an HIV status is ascertained. When the patient is strict about the treatment prescribed and observes the regime recommended, the HIV status will remain but it may be a long time before any symptoms develop.”

What are the biggest problems people who are HIV-positive in Bulgaria face?

“The biggest problem of all is social discrimination. It has been so many years, yet the stigmatization and rejection have not diminished one bit. People are afraid their status will become public knowledge, because in most cases they will lose their friends, their family. Very often our society is far from tolerant, that is something that must change. It is a disease that could happen to anyone. Often people who are HIV-positive say they have done nothing different from what the rest of the world do, it is something that has simply happened to them, sheer bad luck.”

HIV carriers should not be the subject of discrimination by society or by doctors. Even finding a GP often proves to be a problem, as many doctors do not want to work with such patients. Still, the good news is that all people in Bulgaria who are HIV-positive have guaranteed access to modern antiretroviral treatment.

“Yes, in Bulgaria there is free treatment for one and all, it is a matter of personal decision,” says Dr. Markova.

What do people who are in contact with virus carriers need to know?

“That they cannot contract the disease by everyday contact. We should, perhaps, make mention of the ways the disease is transmitted: sexual intercourse, blood products and from mother to child, including breastfeeding. When one knows this, there is no danger of infection. Let me give you an example – some of our patients were not aware they were HIV-positive long after they were infected. Yet their spouses remained healthy, even though they had not been using condoms. Of course, that is not something we encourage, what I mean is that preventing infection is not impossible.”

We are apt to have prejudices, have Bulgarians started taking precautions, or do they still think “it is something that will not happen to me”?

“I’d say the latter is true, that is the Bulgarian frame of mind. And not just when it comes to HIV. When we are driving our cars and overtaking another vehicle we don’t stop to think there might be another car doing the same, on a collision course with ours. We say to ourselves: that is something that will not happen to me.”

Treatment of people who are HIV-positive in Bulgaria takes place under the Health Ministry’s Programme for Prevention and Control of HIV/AIDS, which will be financed by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria until the end of 2015. As of next year the treatment will be financed by the state.

English version: Milena Daynova