Charlie Sheen may have inadvertently caused a public awareness renaissance with his recent admission that he is HIV positive. Ironically, after America was riveted by watching Sheen’s very public series of setbacks caused by addictive and socially destructive behavior, an opportunity to readdress a long lingering and unnecessary battle--HIV--emerged. Recent research published today in JAMA Internal Medicine affirms the “the Sheen Effect” caused a cascade of inquiries into testing and preventive measures among the public. This is not only a positive outcome, it’s momentum which we MUST seize in order to make further progress in eradicating the virus that until now much of the public seemed to have lost interest in.
