This story focuses on the devastating effect HIV had on the hemophilia community in the 1980s and 1990s – an astounding 90 percent of people with severe hemophilia were hit with HIV by the late 1990s. They were shunned at school, in the workplace, even in their families. And the hemophilia medical leadership was slow to respond to the crisis. This article tells the stories of several young boys and men with hemophilia who were ostracized because of HIV – how they struggled, how they persevered, and how they're fighting to keep HIV on the public's radar so that people remain vigilant.
The article emphasizes that although the struggle has eased somewhat for people with hemophilia and HIV-medical advancements have opened up new career and family options for them – life is still very challenging for this group and efforts to fight HIV must continue through education, research, and safe transfusion and sex practices.
Read "A New Attitude "
See the archived story and questionnaire in which the reporter writes about how this story was written.