The vast majority of Belgians with HIV are no longer contagious. This is evident from the results of scientific research that Sensoa, Sciensano and the Tropical Institute announced today. The condition is that the HIV-positive person takes the medication carefully. Sensoa refers to a “milestone in the fight against HIV”.
Experts have suspected it for some time, but the completion of two PARTNER studies showed that the amount of the virus in the blood is suppressed to such an extent that the presence of HIV can no longer be determined by a classic test, if the medication is taken faithfully. The result of the non-measurable presence of the virus load in the blood is that the virus can no longer be transmitted through sexual contact, even if it is unprotected. This is also good news for couples with an HIV positive partner: they can simply become pregnant.
A first PARTNER study was conducted in 888 couples in 14 European countries, with one HIV positive and one HIV negative partner. In total, those couples had sex without a condom almost 60,000 times, but no transmission of the virus was found. The second PARTNER study, in gay couples, came to the same conclusion.
The treatment is therefore the most important, and Belgium scores particularly well there. 91% of people with HIV know they have the virus. 92% of them are in treatment, and 94% of HIV-positives in treatment have such an unmeasurable viral load. The number of new diagnoses in our country has been declining since 2012, and those new diagnoses are due to the small group that does not (yet) know their status
Safe sex
Sensoa emphasizes that this news does not mean the end of the traditional prevention message surrounding the condom: new infections mainly occur by those who do not know themselves that he or she is infected. “But good treatment is part of what is called combination prevention”, it sounds. This involves safe sex and easy testing and biomedical initiatives such as a quick start of HIV medication.
Stigma
In response to the news, Sensoa launched the campaign ‘HIV stops here’. The news is “one more reason to act normal against people with HIV”. The stigma attached to them is still the most important problem for people with HIV, according to a survey by Sensoa. “A correct assessment of risks and knowledge about what it is like to live with HIV can change the image people have of people with HIV in a positive way and that is exactly what Sensoa wants to do with this campaign”, responds Flemish minister. of Welfare and Public Health Wouter Beke.
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