WATCH: Short Feel Good Gay Film Tackles HIV Testing and Prevention

A new HIV-prevention video encourages personal responsibility in the fight to end HIV. Terrence Higgins Trust, the United Kingdom’s largest HIV and sexual health charity launched the feel-good HIV prevention film Together Summer at London Pride.

Aimed at gay and bisexual men, Together Summer (#TogetherSummer) is the latest installment of England's nationwide HIV prevention campaign, “It Starts with Me.’’  It features a group of friends enjoying the summer together, having fun, and falling in love. But the message is still clear: together we can stop HIV by regular testing, and protecting each other by using condoms.

“The fight [won't] be won by large organizations or governments,” said Cary James, head of programs at Terrence Higgins Trust. “But by the actions of individuals in the most personal and intimate moments of their lives.”

Gay and bisexual men are the groups most affected by HIV in England, with an estimated 43,500 gay and bi men living with HIV in the U.K., one in six of whom don’t know they are positive.

“At this time of the year when the LGBT community comes together to celebrate Pride,” James added, “we hope this video will inspire all of us to play a part in stopping HIV by regular testing and protecting each other by using condoms.“

Watch the It Starts With Me below:

The It Starts With Me website offers tools to determine if you need an HIV test, how to find the nearest testing clinic (in England), and how to choose the perfect condom.
  
HIV Prevention England’s ‘It Starts with Me’ campaign launched in April 2013, and is coordinated by Terrence Higgins Trust, funded by Public Health England. Follow @startswithme on Twitter. Terrence Higgins Trust has centers across England, Scotland, and Wales, where they provide information and advice about HIV and sexual health and offer a range of services including sexual health checks, counselling and support groups.

Terrence Higgins Trust's website says the group campaigns “for a world where people with HIV live healthy lives, free from prejudice and discrimination, and we promote good sexual health as a right and reality for all.”  

It Starts With Me hopes to reduce new HIV  infections by promoting condom use, increasing testing, and promoting “the role of the individual responsibility we all have in stopping the spread of HIV.”