Prince Harry’s HIV Test Had Completely Surprising Results
Prince Harry is certainly doing his best to following in his beloved mother’s footsteps by trying to make the world a better place. Treks to Antarctica (with Alexander Skarsgård) to support wounded soldiers isn’t out of the realm of this royal, nor is publicly addressing his health to encourage others to do the same. Recently posting a Facebook live video of himself receiving an HIV test, the point was to remove the stigma around being tested. And now, just a couple of weeks later, the results are already in. No, not the test results, because those are obviously private. The impact results are in, and they are not only surprising, but they’re totally staggering.
The Terrence Higgins Trust, a UK-based charity, decided to run a pilot project to coincide with the prince’s doc appointment. Anyone who was inspired to take a test themselves could request a 15-minute self-testing kit (those who received a positive result could also receive guidance from the trust on what to do next).
The Trust called Harry’s actions a “groundbreaking moment in the fight against HIV” and there’s no doubt that they were right, as 4,750 free BioSure HIV self tests were sent out. That’s a 500 percent increase in testing in the days after the Facebook video was broadcast. 500 percent!!!
This definitely has the kind of surprising results they were hoping for, so perhaps we’ll see more of this kind of stigma-busting initiatives from the royal family.
What do you think about Harry’s public HIV test and its impact on others getting tested? Tweet us @BritandCo!
(h/t Mirror; photos via Chris Jackson/Getty)