WHAT DOES UNDETECTABLE EQUALS UNTRANSMITTABLE MEAN?

HIV is a long-term health condition that is easily manageable with medication. People living with HIV and on treatment can expect to live a normal life span.

HIV treatment effectively reduces the amount of the virus in the body to the point where it cannot be detected.

This means that people who are on effective HIV treatment with an undetectable viral load cannot pass HIV on during sex.

HIV treatment has made huge advances.

However public perceptions and societal knowledge about HIV have not kept up at the same pace. Only 16% of the public are aware of what U=U means*, yet being undetectable is the reality for most people living with HIV in the UK.

We believe that fear around HIV transmission can fuel HIV stigma, and that the U=U message is one of the most powerful ways in which HIV stigma will be defeated.  

The science is clear. Undetectable = Untransmittable. U=U

* From National AIDS Trust's 2021 report 'HIV: Public Knowledge and Attitudes' 

Whilst fully endorsing the U=U message and ensuring ongoing support for people to have and sustain an undetectable viral load, George House Trust also believes that it is vitally important that people who, for whatever reason, do not, or cannot, achieve an undetectable viral load are not seen, or treated, any differently than people who do.