Do you know more about HIV than a beauty queen?
Cedriann Martin Chin-Asiong
Communications and Advocacy Adviser at UNAIDS
In the HIV bubble we know something exciting... actually game-changing. And we've known it for a while. It's time the word got out.
When, through treatment, a person living with HIV lowers the virus in their blood to a level that cannot be detected, they are not able to pass it on through sex. To be clear, even if that person has sex without a condom, it's impossible for them to infect an HIV-negative partner.
Hard to believe, I know. Here's a 2023 policy brief by the World Health Organization confirming that people living with HIV who attain an undetectable viral load "have ZERO risk of transmitting HIV to their sexual partner(s)".
The concept is known as U=U or "undetectable equals untransmittable". (Credit to Prevention Access Campaign )
It means that treatment does not just keep people alive and kicking. It also PREVENTS new infections.
It also means that all the prejudice and rights violations that flow from our perception of HIV as an "infectious" disease are now doubly irrational. 1980s attitudes (shame, scorn, fear, dread) should be extinct. Rather than gossiping about people living with HIV and keeping them away from our borders and workplaces, we should support them to:
领英推荐
As part of our USAID and PEPFAR-supported stigma and discrimination reduction work at UNAIDS Asia Pacific, we've equipped journalists and influencers to spread the word about U=U. We've also created simple content to jumpstart a wider conversation.
In a short series I'll share some of work we've done this year. First here are a couple videos from our amazing Regional Goodwill Ambassador and Miss Universe 2015, Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach. Pia has more than 20 million followers across social media channels. These are her U=U messages to them, and you.