Actor Charlie Sheen recently came out nationally about is HIV positive diagnosis. The actor revealed that he has had the virus for about 4 years and that he is HIV undetectable(too little of the virus in his blood for standard tests to measure). With Sheen opening up his diagnosis, it is a pathway to open up a dialogue about Men’s health and inform men around the world the dangers of straying away from the doctor.

The actor also said he’s trusted the diagnosis with people he thought he could confide in. Sheen said he was blackmailed for years in an effort to keep his diagnosis private,but has paid out upwards of $10 million to keep the illness a secret.

“What people forget is that that’s money they’re taking from my children,” he said about the “shakedowns” he has experienced. “I trusted them and they were deep in my inner circle, and I thought they could be helpful. My trust turned to their treason.” spoke Sheen.

For those who may not exactly know the statistics about HIV, here are some facts about the virus. HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) is a virus that attacks the immune system, the body’s natural defense system, that is transmitted through sexual contact or bodily fluids. According to The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2013, the estimated number of diagnoses of HIV infection in the United States was 47,352. There were 37,887 diagnoses in adult and adolescent males and 9,278 in adult and adolescent females. There were an estimated 187 diagnoses of HIV infection among children aged less than 13 years at diagnosis.HIV and AIDS are not the same, HIV is the virus, if untreated can cause complications that lead to AIDS.

In this day and age, men are dying in higher rates than women from every single ailment you can think of. Men have hundreds of excuses why they do not go to the doctor. However, the number-one excuse that men use is “I’m fine.” On average, men live about seven years less than women. There are some who believe these two facts are related.

Men tend to wait longer to visit the doctor and often are very ill by the time they do reach a doctor’s office. Men often wait longer to visit a doctor because they want to see if the problem will eventually fix itself. In addition to this, men also attribute not going to the doctor to it being too expensive if they do not have insurance. They also believe that they should not make a visit because they show no symptoms of being sick. Despite popular belief, you can still be sick and show no symptoms of being sick. There’s a classic saying that it is better to know and be healthy instead of not knowing and ending up dead.

“A lot of my patients have the same mentality. May they be gay, straight, or bisexual, they think the same. They are invincible and that the virus cannot affect them, but in actuality it affects everyone. Safe sex is the best sex,” said Joell Royal, MSW, Howard Universty’s HU-Shop Coordinator.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that 1 in 4 new HIV infections occurred in young people ages 13-24. About 60 percent of all youth with HIV do not know they are infected, are not getting treated, and can unknowingly pass the virus on to others. HIV can be prevented with sexual abstinence, consistent condom use, practicing monogamy (or serial monogamy), and avoiding needle-sharing for tattoos and piercings.

One of the biggest steps that we can take as a community is to be aware of our health conditions. HIV does not have a cure yet so we must take the proper precautions to prevent the widespread outbreak of HIV. We also have to educate ourselves on the stigmas of people being gay. Being gay does not mean you have HIV, and it does not mean straight people cannot get the virus.