A new programme embraced by Body Positive is hoped to give HIV-positive people confidence to disclose their HIV-positive status to sexual partners. Mark Fisher New Zealand law requires an HIV-positive person to disclose their HIV status to a sexual partner unless they take effective precautions to ensure the virus cannot be transmitted. For penetrative anal sex the only precaution considered effective in law is use of a condom. Body Positive, the country's largest HIV-positive people's advocacy and support organisation, which caters primarily to gay and bi men who are most of those with HIV in New Zealand, has signed up to the Undetectable = Uninfections, or U=U programme. The strategy is based on a person with HIV ensuring they are on an effective HIV medication control regime, are adhering to that regime constantly, and that the level of HIV in their body is undetectable at the time of the sexual encounter. “Something many of us have assumed for years has been proven to be true by the latest research from the Partner and Opposites Attract study,” says BP General Manager Mark Fisher. “With or without a condom, if you’ve successfully maintained an undetectable viral load you won’t pass along HIV! It’s time to proudly share this information and have people understand how treatment can help people live longer healthier lives and also prevent the spread of HIV.”
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Thursday, 26th January 2017 - 1:11pm