Clinical trials over the eld have shown that HIV - confirming people on anti - retroviral therapy ( ART ) with an undetectable viral incumbrance can not sexually transmit the virus to an HIV - negative someone . This important result was denote unequivocally inJulyat the Ninth International Aids Society Conference and it is now the official insurance of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ) .
Hundreds of aesculapian professional person and organisation have committed to the undetectable = untransmittable ( U = U ) pledge . The CDC live with this is a antic step forward and will aid take exception the stigma HIV - positively charged people still look today .
“ Across three different sketch , including M of yoke and many thousand acts of sexual practice without a condom or pre - exposure prophylaxis ( PrEP ) , no HIV transmissions to an HIV - negative partner were discover when the HIV - positive person was virally suppressed , ” read the CDCDear Colleagueletter on HIV / AIDS prevention . “ This means that people who take ART daily as dictate and achieve and keep an undetectable viral incumbrance have effectively no risk of sexually channel the computer virus to an HIV - negative spouse . ”
The CDC statement also append an inauspicious " however " . Institutions and ignorance are still stop people from getting the care and treatment they call for . They noted the hurdles many have to present to get access to ART and every single one is exasperate : inadequate health systems , poverty , racialism , homophobia , biphobia , transphobia , and criminalization .
" Educating the universal universe about U = U has the potential to put a massive dent in the stigma that ’s follow people living with HIV for the last thirty years . Once people know you ’re not - infectious they ’re more able to see past the virus and see the person , " HIV Campaigner Tom Hayes told IFLScience . " More and more public body are acknowledge and backing the U = U ( # uequalsu on societal medium ) message , giving it more credibility . What we need now is a public information political campaign across all physique of medium to play the general public up to date . U = U changes everything . "
ART gets disembarrass of any actively replicating HIV , but it is possible for HIV to be latent and in hiding . This is why ART is a continuous discussion and not a one - off . Recentbreakthroughssuggest a means to completely eradicate the virus , but it is still very early day .
Now more than ever it is important to remember that HIV is a manageable disease . Most of the struggle HIV - positive the great unwashed confront come from being stigmatized due to other people ’s misconceptions . It is important to remain informed , support the research , and fight the ignorance that circumvent HIV . As thePrevention Access campaign , who spearheaded U = atomic number 92 , says : " Science not Stigma ! "
