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The international documentary series Global Perspective this year has the theme of Islands, and Radio New Zealand's interpretation is based on the isolation suffered by those living with the HIV virus.

In New Zealand more than half of HIV positive people don't know anyone else with HIV so their journey is likely to be solitary.

Death Diminishes Me asks the listener to consider what isolates people from, and what connects them to their friends, family and each other.

Fifteen funerals within five years – that’s the situation Shane found himself in the early 1990s when his friends started dying from AIDS related illnesses.

Shane is one of five HIV Positive men from New Zealand who share their personal reflections and stories in Death Diminishes Me as they work towards self-acceptance.