#UequalsU The Powerful Message of HIV Treatment As Prevention

People living with HIV and on effective treatment can’t pass the virus on and can live long and healthy lives. #UequalsU

https://twitter.com/TezAnderson

I acquired HIV in 1983. I did not know until I tested in 1986, when my new AIDS doctor told me, “You have 18–24 months to live.” It was four days after my 26th birthday. There were no HIV treatments then.

2021 marks 40 years since the first announcement of a mysterious illness affecting young gay men on June 5th, 1981. It would come to be known as AIDS.

Since 1981, we’ve made remarkable progress in the fight against HIV. We now have treatments that are so effective they suppress the amount of virus in our blood so HIV can become undetectable. I’ve been HIV+ for 38 years, with an undetectable viral load for at least 20 years.

Being undetectable is not only a cornerstone for good health and an extended lifespan. Undetectable is groundbreaking because it means people living with HIV on effective treatment cannot pass the virus on to sexual partners.

Undetectable Equals Untransmittable is grounded in science. It means there is a Zero Risk of transmitting HIV to sexual partners. It is a fact.

#UequalsU

We have much work to do to raise awareness and improve care and quality of life for HIV Long-Term Survivors, and that work is continuing. But let’s celebrate the achievements like the fact of #UequalsU. And share the news far and wide.

Undetectable = Untransmittable applies to everyone living with HIV and AIDS. Sometimes older adults with HIV are doubtful. It seems too good to be true, but it is.

I’m honored to be a 2021 U=U Ambassador. Ask me about U=U Tez Anderson

An article in Poz

[embed]PAC Welcomes U=U Ambassadors The Prevention Access Campaign is thrilled to welcome U=U Ambassadors, a group of U.S.-based leading advocates…bit.ly

PAC Welcomes U=U Ambassadors

The second cohort of U.S. U=U Ambassadors officially joined Prevention Access Campaign to help educate and empower communities about HIV and U=U.

The second cohort of U.S. U=U Ambassadors officially joined Prevention Access Campaign to help educate and empower communities about HIV and U=U.

The **Prevention Access Campaign is thrilled to welcome U=U Ambassadors**, a group of U.S.-based leading advocates, activists and healthcare professionals who have played important roles in building the Undetectable = Untransmittable movement. Undetectable = Untransmittable is a global community led movement to share the revolutionary but still widely unknown fact that a person living with HIV who is on treatment and has an undetectable viral load cannot sexually transmit HIV.

All Ambassadors have received training in the basic U=U science, communications, and advocacy. Working together, Ambassadors and PAC staff educate and build the capacity of providers and communities to integrate the U=U message into sexual health communications, advocacy, and clinical practice.

PAC is proud to welcome a new cohort of U=U Ambassadors, made up of the following advocates:

• Achim Howard (New Orleans, LA)
• Alecia Tramel-McIntyre (Miami, FL)
• Brady Dale Etzkorn-Morris (Nashville, TN)
• Deirdre Sparks (Richmond, VA)
• Hydeia Broadbent (Las Vegas, NV)
• Jacen Zhu (Washington, D.C.)
• Kevin Maloney (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
• Stacy Jennings (Columbia, SC)
• Tez Anderson (San Francisco, CA)
• Tony Enos (Philadelphia, PA)

Additionally, as a part of a research project taking place in the first half of 2021, in partnership with The Henne Group and funded by ViiV Healthcare, these four Ambassadors work full-time to share U=U information across Mississippi.

• Art Jackson
• Brittany Bass
• LS Jones
• Zundra Bateaste-Sutton

These advocates join the original Ambassadors who launched the program in 2019 and will work together with their communities to increase awareness of U=U and bring us closer to ending the HIV epidemic. To learn more about these Ambassadors and for information about how to engage them in your community, please visit PAC’s website.

[embed]U=U Ambassadors | Prevention Access Campaign Edit descriptionwww.preventionaccess.org

Yours in resilience,

Tez Anderson

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