ABC News
Declan Bowring
In short:
Leading HIV activist and treatment pioneer David Polson has died.
Mr Polson was one of the first 400 people diagnosed with HIV in Australia and took part in 28 drug trials while being treated.
What’s next?
A memorial for Mr Polson is being planned.
Prominent HIV treatment pioneer David Polson is being remembered as a “spectacular and selfless” man after he died on Monday.
Mr Polson, 70, was one of the first 400 people to be diagnosed with HIV as the virus began to spread in Sydney in the 1980s.
He took part in 28 HIV drug trials under the care of immunologist David Cooper AC, who he credited with saving his life.
“Professor David Cooper saved my life with great care and compassion,” Mr Polson said in 2023.
“He guided me through 28 drug trials, which all were horrendous. And sure, they resulted in problems with my health, but I’m here, I’m alive.”
In 2022 he told ABC Radio Sydney that he remembered his days being treated at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney’s inner city like it was yesterday.
He spoke of the pain, but also the compassion showed by The Sisters of Charity.
“The incidence of seeing skeletal people walking in the corridor, trying to get a bit of exercise or whatever, it was horrible,” Mr Polson said.
“But it was also a sanctuary. The Sisters of Charity, who I have undying love for, made sure that we were loved, supported, and cared for with no judgement.”
Mr Polson lived for more than 40 years after his initial diagnosis.
In 2023 Mr Polson was recognised as a Member of the Order of Australia for significant service to community health through HIV education and advocacy roles.
Qtopia, a promise fulfilled
Mr Polson’s experience inspired him to found Qtopia, Australia’s first queer museum and a memorial to the lives lost in the AIDS epidemic.
Qtopia opened in February last year, fulfilling a promise he made to the late Professor Cooper who wanted an AIDS memorial.
Qtopia chief executive Greg Fisher said Mr Polson wanted the museum to convey the horror and the humanity in response to the crisis.
“He wanted the place to expand to be a place of education, to break down intolerance through a lack of understanding,”
Mr Fisher said.
He said Mr Polson campaigned vigorously for people with HIV to “stand tall” and not be ashamed of their diagnosis.
“At the time that he was diagnosed, there was great shame. He was told not to tell anybody,” Mr Fisher said.
‘He wanted to beat this damn thing’
Basil Donovan, who worked at the Sydney Sexual Health Centre, remembered Mr Polson volunteering for every HIV drug trial that was going.
“He was really selfless because he wanted to beat this damn thing,” Professor Donovan said.
“The drugs do a lot of harm, as they often did, but he lived through it and essentially helped work out how to use these drugs, how to use them properly and which were the best combinations.
“He was a spectacular and selfless guy.”
Mr Fisher said details of a memorial service would be announced in the next few days.
