"LOTS of people think you get HIV by sleeping around or taking drugs but I got it from my partner who had been two timing me."

Those are the words of a 55-year-old woman, who wishes only to be known as Amy, who is living with the life-threatening virus HIV.

Three years ago Amy was diagnosed with HIV, just two years after her partner died of a liver complaint.

She later found out her partner had been unfaithful and had infected her with the lethal virus which he must have contracted from his affair.

Now taking anti-retroviral drugs to combat the virus, and feeling healthier, Amy is training to become an HIV counsellor and wants to change the stigma that surrounds it.

"I really want to raise awareness of the problems, I had great support when I found out but I would have liked to have met someone like me, who had gone through what I have gone through," she said.

"I would tell someone who has just found out they have got HIV that it's not the end, there is help out there and it can be okay."

Amy's big concern is for people infected with HIV in poorer countries.

"I feel very fortunate, but I just wish the drugs were cheaper so people in poorer countries could benefit from the drugs that have helped me," she said.