HIV/AIDS may be a life-threatening disease but it doesn’t necessarily have to have a negative impact on those who live with the virus.
This is the message that Debbie Runions tries to convey as she travels throughout Tennessee sharing her story with others. Today she will bring her message to area health-care professionals, educators, students and others living with HIV/AIDS when she speaks at the annual HIV/AIDS conference entitled “Mind, Body and Spirit.”
“We’re looking at HIV as a very positive disease right now. Even though it is bad, it’s deadly, there is so much out there that people can use as resources to help them, and the prevention is out there,” said Karen Hicks, program coordinator for the office of continuing medical education.
Runions will talk about how her life has been changed by HIV and how she helps others with the disease remain positive.
“She is a very interesting person,” Hicks said. “She considers having HIV or living with HIV a gift.”
The program will begin at 8 a.m. and have entertainment from Rev. Howard Hanger, minister of ritual and guidance with Jubilee! Community in Asheville, N.C.
“We’re going to start out with a bang. Rev. Hanger is a jazz pianist, and he is amazing,” Hicks said. “He’s going to wake everybody up.”
Other speakers include, physicians and professors who will look at HIV/AIDS from a clinical standpoint.
They will discuss the medicines that are being developed and the possibility of vaccines for the disease.
“Last year we did a lot of ‘in memory of’ types of things,” Hicks said. “This year we’re focusing on ‘OK, so I do have HIV and I may get full blown AIDS, but life goes on.'”
Runions will be speaking from 3:15-4:15 p.m. and will take questions after her address. She will also be available to talk to people one on one.
“We’re trying to convey the positive side of living with HIV/AIDS, and we’re looking at how it affects the mind, body and spirit,” Hicks said.

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