Undetectable = Untransmissible: Unpacking HIV Risk and Transmission Concerns for Women Living With HIV
Journal Title: Interventions in Gynaecology and Women’s Healthcare - Year 2018, Vol 3, Issue 1
Abstract
The notion that Undetectable = Untransmissible (U=U) is revolutionizing the way people living with HIV are seen and treated around the world. No longer the harbingers of disease and death, those living with HIV who take HIV anti-retroviral therapy (ART) daily as prescribed and achieve and maintain an undetectable viral load (< 50 copies/ml) have effectively no risk of sexually transmitting the virus to an HIV-negative partner [1]. The global U=U campaign has been credited with beginning to change public perception of HIV transmissibility [2]. However, sexual transmission of HIV is only one way in which HIV is transmitted and it is women living with HIV who have to shoulder the additional burden of the risk of possibly transmitting HIV to their child either pre or post nattily. And even though the basis of the rationale behind U=U was proven almost two decades ago by proving that a woman prescribed ART and is virally suppressed prior to contraception, and remains undetectable throughout their pregnancy, there is virtually no vertical transmission of HIV from a mother to her infant [3] (Figure 1). To explore some of the questions and concerns of women living with HIV regarding the broad application of U=U to their lives, ICASO commissioned a Community Brief on U=U for women living with HIV. Launched in September 2018 at the National AIDS Conference in Australia, this brief was written by a team of women living with HIV and was guided by a global community advisory committee, also made up by women living with HIV.
Authors and Affiliations
Brent Allan, Jessica Whitbread, Mary Ann Torres
Keywords
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- EP ID EP581479
- DOI 10.32474/IGWHC.2019.03.000154
- Views 97
- Downloads 0
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