HIV related stigma: a dangerous roadblock

World AIDS Day, on 1 December 2022, marked the first anniversary of the Department of Health and Social Care’s action plan to end new HIV infections in England by 2030, improve quality of life for people living with HIV, and to tackle HIV related stigma.1 Stigma reinforces existing prejudices, exacerbates health inequalities, and is a foremost barrier to effective HIV prevention, treatment, and care.Today, for those living with HIV in the UK who are diagnosed early and have access to effective antiretroviral therapy, outcomes are among the best in the world, with life expectancy approaching that of the general population.12 Treatment delivering virological suppression to undetectable levels prevents onward transmission, stopping HIV in its tracks. The consensus that undetectable equals untransmissible (U=U) has been revolutionary for people living with HIV and the direction of the epidemic. The use of antiretrovirals by HIV negative people as pre-exposure prophylaxis is a major…
Read Original Article: HIV related stigma: a dangerous roadblock »