Charlie Sheen has spoken out about his diagnosis with HIV, urging others not to make the same mistakes he did.
As he gives his endorsement to a revolutionary new range of condom – Sheen, who announced his HIV diagnosis last year – explains his previous approach to using protection.
“I think people associate the word condom with less pleasure, with less connection,” says the actor.
But as the 50-year-old explains, that 30 second inconvenience can prevent “a lifetime of grief and suffering,” as the actor is surely starting to realise for himself.
“It’s a dialogue that people don’t want to have,” he says. “A lot of it has to do with that fantasy belief that it won’t happen to them.”
The actor speaks candidly about his belief that he’d never contract HIV, and also about his pride that he managed to turn something to traumatic into a positive thing for the world.
He describes how searches for HIV surged in the days and weeks after his announcement he was suffering with the disease.
“When I heard that I was proud to have turned something that seemed so completely negative and life disruptive into change and healing,” he says.
The new condom – called the LELO HEX is the result of seven years of research and testing, and differs from the standard condom significantly.
On their site, HEX are described as “a unique hexagonal web throughout the latex, which means it looks and performs differently to any other condom in the world today.”
“I don’t know why it hasn’t happened but the condom hasn’t changed for 70 years until now,” says Charlie of the new product, which aims to be more flexible, stronger and heighten sensitivity for the user.
You can view the product here.
