{"id":8740,"date":"2024-11-01T12:00:21","date_gmt":"2024-11-01T12:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/i-base.info\/guides\/?page_id=8740"},"modified":"2024-11-22T22:44:06","modified_gmt":"2024-11-22T22:44:06","slug":"treatment-as-prevention-tasp","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/guides\/starting\/treatment-as-prevention-tasp","title":{"rendered":"U=U and Treatment as Prevention (TasP)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-16659 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/i-base.info\/guides\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/UU-logo-2-300x184-1.png\" alt=\"U = U undetectable means untransmissable\" width=\"300\" height=\"184\" \/>As well as being good for your health, ART also protects your partners.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>An undetectable viral load on ART stops the risk of HIV, even without condoms.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>This is called <a href=\"https:\/\/i-base.info\/u-equals-u\/\">U=U<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/i-base.info\/u-equals-u\/\">Undetectable = Untransmittable<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Your HIV doctor should talk about this.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The <a href=\"https:\/\/i-base.info\/partner-study\">PARTNER studies<\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/i-base.info\/htb\/32190\">Opposites Attract study<\/a> both reported zero transmissions from the positive partner with an undetectable viral load.<\/li>\n<li>Couples in these studies \u2013 both gay and straight \u2013 had sex more than 100,000 times without condoms.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This means condoms are only important if you want to protect against pregnancy and some STIs.<\/p>\n<p>U=U should reduce worry and anxiety over HIV.<\/p>\n<p>It should also help reduce fear and stigma about HIV.<\/p>\n<h2>ART as prevention<\/h2>\n<p><strong>UK guidelines recommend that every HIV doctor should talk about how ART reduces the risk of transmission.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Taking ART will benefit your own health and reduce the risk of sexually transmitting HIV.<\/p>\n<h2>Public health and personal choice<\/h2>\n<p><strong>U=U has changed the approach to HIV and ART. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>But the main reason for using ART should always be for your own health.<\/p>\n<p>If you do not want to take ART for your own health, you should not be under pressure to take ART to prevent transmission.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Most HIV positive people never put their partners at risk.<\/li>\n<li>Most new infections come from people who do not yet know they are HIV positive. This is because viral will be higher when not on ART, especially in early infection.<\/li>\n<li>Greater awareness of U=U can improve our lives. It is good to no longer have to worry about whether our partners are at risk.<\/li>\n<li>ART makes it easier to have relationships without the fear of HIV.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<blockquote><p><strong>We are both HIV positive and not using condoms is a special part of our relationship. We are both on treatment and have no resistance. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>We don\u2019t usually have other partners, but agree to use condoms if this happens, so that we would reduce the risk of STIs\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><strong>\u2014 Steve, Manchester.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p><strong>I am positive and so is my partner.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>I am happier to continue using condoms. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>This is because I feel better to be in control of this part of my life.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>At least I don\u2019t have to worry about my health if he decides to have other partners\u2026 <\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><strong>\u2014 Paula, London.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As well as being good for your health, ART also protects your partners. An undetectable viral load on ART stops the risk of HIV, even without condoms. This is called U=U or Undetectable = Untransmittable. Your HIV doctor should talk &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":1547,"menu_order":31,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-guides.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-8740","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8740","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8740"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8740\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17406,"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8740\/revisions\/17406"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1547"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}