VIENNA: An Austrian men’s magazine has printed its latest edition using blood from people who are HIV-positive in order to counter the “stigma” often attached to the virus that causes AIDS, its chief editor said on Tuesday.

“We wanted to make a statement against the stigma and the irrational fears (about)... HIV and HIV-positive people,” Julian Wiehl, founder and editor-in-chief of Vangardist magazine, said.

“If you hold this magazine in your hands it is like holding somebody who is HIV positive. Nothing can happen, nothing can harm you holding the magazine, and nothing can harm you holding an HIV-positive person,” he said.

Published in Dawn, May 6th, 2015

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