We have something to celebrate...
Great progress has been made since the combination treatment of HIV was introduced in 1996. The treatment significantly prolonged and improved survival and around 2008 the knowledge was so good that some doctors gradually dared to talk about infection-free HIV. Treatment had now (also) become effective prevention!
D3nmark, HIV-Denmark endorsed the declaration www.preventionaccess.org/consensus that the risk of infection from an HIV-positive with the 3immeasurable virus is negligible to non-existent.
Denmark
Denmark is among one the Western European countries that are already ahead of the UN treatment goals for HIV for 2020, also called 90-90-90: 90% with HIV are estimated to be diagnosed, of which 90% are in treatment and 90% of them have obtained immeasurable virus and are well treated.
This means that the vast majority of HIV-positive people in Denmark have a good life prognosis and that they can no longer be infected with HIV.
If there is any place where the message about infection-free HIV must go, it must therefore be a place like Denmark. The message reminds us of the success we have achieved and of the potential that lies in knowing our HIV status. Infection-free HIV must be the lever that can reassure people who think they are infected with HIV, but who for various reasons have not yet been tested.
The work ahead of us
When you ask HIV-positive people about their living conditions, more than half say that they either keep their distance or experience that others keep their distance from them ( HIV and living conditions, 2016 ).
Furthermore, many well-treated people still report that they are worried about being infected through sex. Fortunately, the number of concerned has dropped compared to a previous study, but the concern has unfortunately not disappeared with the good news of infection-free HIV.
There are still some social side effects of HIV that we need to work with: When HIV-positive people are met by prejudice in e.g. dentists or ophthalmologists, then healthcare professionals need to be better informed.
When well-treated HIV-positive people feel contagious, they must be better dressed and get help and more knowledge to live a good life with HIV.
Material
On this page, you can find some of the information material we have made about infection-free HIV. We are planning a new website where you can find various themes that relate to knowledge about infection-free HIV.
O = O pamphlet Knowledge about HIV (page 20)
