Undetectable = Uninfectious

Undetectable - Uninfectious 

 

 

There is now revolutionary and evidence-based confirmation that the risk of HIV transmission from people living with HIV on Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) with an undetectable viral load in their blood for at least 6 months is negligible.

However, the majority of people with HIV and their medical providers are not aware of the extent to which treatment prevents transmission.

Most of the information online about HIV transmission risk is not based on current research and is influenced by agency restraints and politics, perpetuating HIV-related stigma and discriminatory sex-negative approaches towards people living with HIV.

Sharing this knowledge can reduce decades of HIV-related stigma, create a powerful new incentive for people with HIV to initiate and adhere to treatment, and thereby further reduce new HIV transmissions, notwithstanding the many social, cultural and legal barriers to testing, treatment and long-term adherence which must also be addressed.

It’s a profound mental, cultural and social shift to acknowledge that if a person living with HIV has an undetectable viral load, they cannot transmit HIV with or without condoms to HIV negative partners. 

 

Undetectable Primer

We collaborated with multiple agencies, activists and the world's top researchers  to create this short Primer as a starting point to help people living with HIV with an undetectable status answer the most fundamental question:

Am I a risk to my partners?

The answer is NO. If you take your medications properly, you will not pass on HIV to your partner.  Stay on treatment, Stay undetectable, Stay uninfectious.

We were frustrated by the conflicting, outdated and biased information online regarding the risk of HIV transmission from someone with an undetectable status, so we went straight to the lead researchers of PARTNER, HPTN 052 and OPPOSITES ATTRACT as well as the world's leading experts in the field to answer that question and back it up with sources. 

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Click here or on the icon above to download the Primer. A more detailed FAQ, provider guide, media guide and major social marketing campaign will follow.

Want to get involved? Questions or feedback?  Get in touch! 

Getting to that point means rewiring thirty-five years of deeply entrenched fears of HIV and the people who have HIV, and challenging longstanding unproven assumption that condoms are always necessary to prevent HIV transmission. 

Please join us to change the narrative about our infectiousness. 

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We are Undetectable and Uninfectious. 

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 NOTE:  An undetectable viral load only protects against HIV transmission to your sexual partners. Condoms help prevent STIs and pregnancy. The HIV prevention method you choose may be different depending upon your sexual practices and relationships. For instance, if you’re having sex with multiple partners or in a non-monogamous relationship, you might consider using condoms to prevent other STIs.

 VIDEO FROM BEYONDPOSITIVE

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The Undetectable Primer's Consensus Statement on "Negligible" risk is Endorsered by: 

• Dr. Myron Cohen – Principal Investigator, HPTN 052; Chief, Division of Infectious Diseases, UNC School of Medicine, North Carolina, USA
• Dr. Demetre C Daskalakis, MPH - Assistant Commissioner, Bureau of HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, New York, USA
• Dr. Andrew Grulich – Principal Investigator, OPPOSSITES ATTRACT; Head of HIV Epidemiology and Prevention Program, Kirby Institute, University of New South Wales, Australia
• Dr. Jens Lundgren – Co-principal Investigator, PARTNER; Professor, Department of Infectious Diseases, Rigshospitalet, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
• Dr. Pietro Vernazza – Executive Committee, PARTNER; Author, Swiss Statement 2008, Update 2016; Chief of the Infectious Disease Division, Cantonal Hospital in St. Gallen, Switzerland

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      Additional Support: 

• Dr. Julio Montaner – Director of the British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS; Director of IDC and Physician Program Director for HIV/AIDS PHC, Canada
• Professor Dame Sally Davies – Chief Medical Officer, England
• Dr. Alison Rodger – Lead Author PARTNER; University College London, United Kingdom
• Professor David Cooper – Director of the Kirby Institute for Infection and Immunity in Society. University of NSW, Australia
• Simon Collins, Steering Committee – PARTNER, i-BASE
• Dr Michael Brady, Medical Director – Terrence Higgins Trust, England

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Thank you to PAC's Founding Task Force for their review of the Primer; to Professor Carrie Foote (Indiana University-Indianapolis) and Edwin Bernard (HIV Justice Network), who reviewed and provided valuable input on the Primer; to Peter Staley, Gus Cairns of NAM-AIDSMap and Mark S. King of MyFabulousDisease.com for their concept development and research; and to Broadway Cares / Equity Fights AIDS for their generous lead funding. 

Read more articles here: http://www.preventionaccess.org/