Video: blob:https:\/\/people.com\/bab84a3b-9b0e-4045-b33d-64161991956f<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Prince Harry<\/a> and a sporting legend joined forces on Friday to help highlight the need for more understanding about HIV \u2014 and to beat the stigma surrounding testing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Harry teamed up with rugby player Gareth Thomas, who recently revealed he was living with HIV<\/a>. Thomas has received the support of both the prince and his brother Prince William<\/a> for opening up about his status and educating the public about his diagnosis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thomas, 45, told PEOPLE: \u201c[Harry] knows the stigma that\u2019s out there, he knows the fear of people not wanting to be tested because they\u2019re so afraid of what they don\u2019t know, and he understands the lack of education out there. So to stand up and actually take a test himself is a real sign of bravery, and a real sign of somebody who doesn\u2019t want to just communicate to certain people, he wants to communicate to everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat stigma is real, it\u2019s not just a word but a real thing,\u201d he continued. \u201cWilliam and Harry want to be part of helping everybody because they realize it\u2019s everybody\u2019s human right regardless of your sexual orientation or your status you\u2019re allowed to be able to continue living your life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Harry, who has taken on his late mother Princess Diana\u2019s cause of educating the public about HIV, visited the rugby club Harlequins, in southwest London, to mark National HIV Testing Week, which starts on November 16.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Harry, 35, has undergone two HIV tests in public in recent years \u2013 one alongside singer<\/a> Rihanna<\/a> in 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During his visit on Friday, Harry met with players from Harlequins\u2019 men\u2019s and women\u2019s teams, as well as inclusive rugby club Kings Cross Steelers, who will share how much of an impact Thomas has had since speaking out about his status.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The event was hosted by Terrence Higgins Trust, the largest voluntary sector provider of HIV and sexual health services in the U.K. It recently established an independent HIV Commission with National AIDS Trust to develop recommendations for an effective action plan to help reach the ambitious goal of ending new HIV transmissions in England by 2030.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Towards the end of the visit, Harry was given a gift for little baby Archie \u2014 a Harlequins rugby jersey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/a>CHRIS JACKSON\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/a>PETER NICHOLLS – WPA POOL \/ GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Commission is chaired by Dame Inga Beale and commissioners include Thomas and Mercy Shibemba, who is a young HIV advocate born with the virus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thomas said: \u201cThis is the next step for me. I could easily stop still and go home and have a lovely life with my husband. But I choose not to. I choose to continue to keep fighting the fight that I started but not on my own.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Shibemba, who has met Harry before, said she used the opportunity on Friday to follow up with him on their previous conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLast time we met, we talked about youth involvement in activism and he was saying that it was important you are not always presenting problems, you\u2019re actually saying here\u2019s a solution,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd today, I said, \u2018I\u2019ve followed on with your advice of don\u2019t just present a government with problems but we have also come up with a solution.\u2019 He seemed really excited about that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The emotional video that Thomas released in September when he revealed his HIV status has had a galvanizing effect on encouraging more people to come forward, according to the Terrence Higgins Trust. Since then, the trust has seen a surge in orders for HIV self tests and visits to its website \u2013 mirroring the five-fold surge in HIV self-tests reported by Terrence Higgins Trust after Harry tested live on Facebook in 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/a>TIM ROOKE\/SHUTTERSTOCK<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thomas says he\u2019s been overwhelmed by the support he\u2019s received.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s been a whirlwind but I\u2019ve got along with it because I\u2019ve had so much public support,\u201d he says. \u201cThat\u2019s been surprising as it\u2019s something I wasn\u2019t really expecting \u2014but that\u2019s been empowering. There are times when I\u2019ve felt down but the overwhelming amount of support has meant that my life has been fulfilled from giving out this very private information than I thought it might have been.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a statement released on Friday, Thomas said, \u201cI spoke out about living with HIV not for me, but for all those people who are struggling and don\u2019t have a platform. For them I want to do everything I can to challenge stigma and out dated views about HIV. That\u2019s why I\u2019m thrilled to be joining the HIV Commission because I want to be a part of a positive change and play a role in driving us towards our goal where no-one else contracts HIV.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Prince Harry and rugby star Gareth Thomas joined players and people living with HIV to talk about the importance of testing By\u00a0Simon Perry Video: blob:https:\/\/people.com\/bab84a3b-9b0e-4045-b33d-64161991956f Prince Harry and a sporting legend joined forces on Friday to help highlight the need for more understanding about HIV \u2014 and to beat the stigma surrounding testing. Harry teamed up […]\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4630,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"tpgb_global_settings":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"tpgb_featured_images":{"full":["https:\/\/site.hopetoheal.org.za\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/0_The-Duke-Of-Sussex-Attends-A-Terrence-Higgins-Trust-Event-Ahead-Of-National-HIV-Testing-Week.jpg",810,539,false],"tp-image-grid":["https:\/\/site.hopetoheal.org.za\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/0_The-Duke-Of-Sussex-Attends-A-Terrence-Higgins-Trust-Event-Ahead-Of-National-HIV-Testing-Week.jpg",700,466,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/site.hopetoheal.org.za\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/0_The-Duke-Of-Sussex-Attends-A-Terrence-Higgins-Trust-Event-Ahead-Of-National-HIV-Testing-Week-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/site.hopetoheal.org.za\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/0_The-Duke-Of-Sussex-Attends-A-Terrence-Higgins-Trust-Event-Ahead-Of-National-HIV-Testing-Week-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/site.hopetoheal.org.za\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/0_The-Duke-Of-Sussex-Attends-A-Terrence-Higgins-Trust-Event-Ahead-Of-National-HIV-Testing-Week-768x511.jpg",768,511,true],"large":["https:\/\/site.hopetoheal.org.za\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/0_The-Duke-Of-Sussex-Attends-A-Terrence-Higgins-Trust-Event-Ahead-Of-National-HIV-Testing-Week.jpg",810,539,false],"default":"https:\/\/site.hopetoheal.org.za\/staging\/wp-content\/plugins\/the-plus-addons-for-block-editor\/assets\/images\/tpgb-placeholder.jpg"},"tpgb_post_meta_info":{"get_date":"November 11, 2019","get_modified_date":"November 11, 2019","category_list":{"category":[{"term_id":19,"name":"News","slug":"news","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":19,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":238,"filter":"raw"}],"post_tag":false,"post_format":false},"author_name":"Hope To Heal","author_url":"https:\/\/site.hopetoheal.org.za\/staging\/author\/hope2233\/","author_email":"webmaster@hopetoheal.org.za","author_website":"","author_description":"Our mission is for women and children to live free from violence and abuse and to provide quality, compassionate, and nonjudgmental services in a manner that fosters self-respect and independence in persons experiencing domestic violence and child abuse and to lead the struggle to end domestic violence through advocacy and community education.","author_facebook":"","author_twitter":"","author_instagram":"","author_role":["administrator"],"author_firstname":"Hope To","author_lastname":"Heal Foundation","user_login":"Hope2233","author_avatar":"![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/imagesvc.meredithcorp.io\/v3\/mm\/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpeopledotcom.files.wordpress.com%2F2019%2F11%2Fprince-harry-gareth-thomas-2-2000.jpg&w=1050&c=sc&poi=face&q=85\")
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