Positive Life NSW

Now in his mid-50s, Ross Duffin has been integrally involved in the politics of HIV/AIDS since news of the virus first broke in the early '80s. In this first part of a wide-ranging conversation, Ross speaks to Susan Ardill about his early days at ACON, the antibody-testing debate of the mid-1980s, the 'sero-divide' and the terrible years when the epidemic hit hard in Sydney.

Greg Page reflects on what leads him to donate an hour of his time each week to massaging HIV+ clients. Once a week I do a volunteer massage for HIV+ patients. As a trained massage therapist with over five years of experience, I'm constantly asked the same question by my clients, who are almost invariably middle-aged men: "Are you one of us?" By which they actually mean, "Are you HIV positive too?"

Tobin Saunders joins the library - as one of the books. I was born and bred in Sydney, residing till the age of one at Milson's Point just across the Harbour Bridge. [I never quite understood that term 'born and bred'; it seems like a kooky anachronism.] Mum, Dad, my two brothers and I squeezed into a dark, red-brick Federation-style flat. Not that I have a visual memory of this time, but I do have photos.

At age 50, Stephen Berry collapsed with an AIDS-defining brain condition. Now approaching 60, he has recovered enough, against massive odds, to go rafting, scuba-diving and bungy jumping.