A hairdresser from Bala with HIV has vowed to stop taking life-saving medication unless the Welsh government improves healthcare for people with the virus.

Gary Tudor-Jones, 49, believes Welsh people – especially those in rural areas – receive inferior treatment to patients across the border.

He may lie outside The Senedd, and stop his medication, if HIV healthcare does not improve in Wales.

“If you live in England you get loads more support, it’s inhumane, I just want my voice to be heard,” he said.

Gary, diagnosed with HIV in May 2023, added: "They’ve pulled out all the funding, there's no support here.

“If you lived in England you get loads more support, you’re entitled to social work and everything, here we just get our medication and that’s it.

"I go to an HIV clinic here – it's in a portacabin."

Gary taking daily medication called Delstrigo. Like everyone on the correct antiviral therapy, Gary's HIV cannot be passed onto others, but the medication has caused terrible side effects.

Gary said: “I get chest infections every few weeks, I’m exhausted, and I struggle so much with remembering things.”

He has to travel for four hours every three months to get his medication, and says the nearest support group for people with HIV is two hours away, so he is calling on the government to do more.

"I've been sending messages to the Welsh parliament, but the responses have been disheartening.

"I was told that if I lived in a major city I’d have all the support I wanted, it’s not good enough.”

Living in a small, rural town has added to his sense of isolation.

"There's only a handful of us around these parts, but it’s like we’re totally forgotten."

Thanks to modern medicine, if he continues to take medication, Gary can expect to live a full lifespan, and won’t pass on HIV, but he says social stigma around the illness remains.

"If I take a swig of somebody’s drink, people won’t touch that, it’s like having leprosy in the 1950s - everyone wants to avoid you.”

Mark’s parents are unaware of his diagnosis as he doesn’t want to worry them, but he feels people in rural Wales with HIV are being neglected and he is determined to raise awareness and demand better support for HIV patients in Wales.

"I am honestly considering lying outside the Senedd in Cardiff while stopping my medication, something has to change," he said.