Singer Elton John and his husband David Furnish have issued a heartfelt statement to mark HIV Testing Week. The famous couple work closely with the Elton John AIDS Foundation as they raise awareness of the condition and try to improve lives.
On the charity's Instagram account, Elton, 78, and David, 63, shared a joint message. They urged people to get tested for HIV to help them to live longer and healthier lives. In the short clip, the Rocket Man singer said: "If you catch your HIV status quickly, when you are tested, then you can live a long and very fulfilled life." David added: "The sooner that you get identified as carrying HIV, then the sooner you start the medicines and the longer, healthier and fuller life you are going to live." Elton then issued a plea to everyone watching as he said: "My plea to everyone is go and get your status. Then you know where you stand and you can do something about it."
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Elton founded the Elton John AIDS Foundation in 1992 to support prevention, education, and care for people living with HIV/AIDS.
While he does not have HIV or AIDS himself, he has been a prominent, long-term activist in the fight against the illness after he witnessed many friends die from the disease in the 1980s.
Speaking at the International Aids Conference in Washington DC back in 2012, the singer admitted: "This young man hit absolute rock bottom. His life was a mess, he was spiralling out of control. He should have died. To be honest, he nearly did."
He added: "I should be dead – six foot under in a wooden box. I should have contracted HIV in the 1980s and died in the 1990s, just like [Queen lead singer] Freddie Mercury, just like [actor] Rock Hudson. Every day I wonder, how did I survive?"
Elton said he was rescued from the depths of his addiction by those who cared for him and has now been sober ever since.
