Silvia Petretti

Silvia Petretti is a woman living with HIV and advocate for the human rights of people living with HIV. She was diagnosed in 1997 and since 2005 she has been openly living with HIV, because she believes it is a powerful tool to challenge the stigma and prejudices directed towards women living with HIV.

Silvia is coordinator of Poz-Fem UK, the British national network of women living with HIV, which she co-founded in 2004. She has been working with Positively UK for 14 years and is now leading the organization as Deputy CEO.

Silvia is chair of the UK Community Advisory Board, a national network of treatment advocates, and from 2009 to 2013 she was Community Representative on the board of the British HIV Association; Silvia is also a trustee of Lambeth Health Watch the patients’ rights organization of the borough of Lambeth, which has the highest HIV prevalence in Europe.

Silvia is an experienced trainer and public speakers and one of the authors of the SHE toolkit: a manual to enable women living with HIV in Europe to develop peer support groups – the manual has been translated in 10 languages.

Silvia represented the Global Network of People Living with HIV at the United Nation High Level Meeting on HIV and AIDS in 2011 by giving a keynote speech, and has also given evidence to the House of Lords for the report: HIV No Vaccine No Cure.

What I write in this blog represent my personal views and opinions, not those of the organizations and networks I am associated with.