So, I know that we use this blog for the lighter matters in our lives, but this article has turned my world upside down. It's HUGE. The headline reads, "Experts Say Positive People on Effective HIV Meds Aren’t Sexually Infectious." In short, the Swiss Federal Commission has issued an official statement that says people whose HIV has been undetectable for six months because of antiviral medication cannot infect their partners during sex. Of course, it's more complicated than that, which you can see from the article, especially in terms of what they are NOT recommending for treatment and prevention.
I'll share some of my thoughts as replies.
5 comments:
Many people have been waiting for this kind of statement to be made, but everyone has been too nervous to make the first move, especially in such an official and powerful way. Of course, it wasn't going to come from this country. God forbid anyone with HIV feels anything but dangerous, criminal, or illegal. I think the race is on, starting right now: Who can get this out there or who can squash it first? Let the circus begin.
The first line of attack we're going to see is, "This statement by the Swiss invites irresponsible behavior and is potentially dangerous." Consider this: In the past two years, online forums have seen a dramatic increase in personal profiles that declare one's negative status: "Tested Neg 1/30/08." Stupid to just trust what someone types in his or her profile. But the real questions is, "Sure, but what did you do on 1/29/08?" Add to that the painful, harmful increase of the use of "drug and disease free--UB2" that further criminalizes and marginalizes people who live with HIV along with the notions that anyone who takes meds is "sick." Could it be, really, truly, could it be, that as a sexually active HIV+ gay man who adheres to his drug regimen that I am the safe(r) player in a hook up? Could such a finding really turn the tides that dramatically?
Joyce, thanks for posting this. This is amazing news. I am so curious about where this all will go -- and truly hope that this news will help more people stay safe(r). I need to do some reading about all of this to figure it out. Any updates in the last week about what is being said?
I guess what I'm really getting at here is that rhetoric matters, a fact that many American medical agencies continue to miss. Two+ decades of sex negative information and campaigns have produced simplistic, false binaries of good/bad, healthy/sick, aware/irresponsible, caring/dangerous. The Swiss report gives us an opportunity to start chipping away at those damaging binaries. In this case, research really could influence not only how people see each other, but also how people see themselves, and that could change behavior, practice and the way we reach people with educational programming.
I think it's fantastic news. I think it's more than interesting that they are "not for the time being considering recommendations that HIV-positive individuals start treatment purely for preventative measures" when 1) how is it different for pregnant women who are given meds to prevent transmission to their new borns(purely preventative)and 2) like treatment for preventive ONLY is an option... treatment, as of right now, suppresses HIV AND (apparently) can act as a preventative. It's not like folks would be taking the meds for one and not the other.
At any rate, my opinion is that it'll be a magical day indeed when humanity can 1) stop demonizing and policing sexual behavior, 2) stop stigmatizing any disease in general (cancer, etc.) and sexual diseases in particular, and 3) rejoices over the idea that disease transmission can be prevented, period.
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