World AIDS Day 2019

Today, December 1, is World AIDS Day. It’s half a century since the first known death from AIDS or the complications of HIV. According to the WHO, 32 million people have died of HIV since the beginning of the epidemic out of the 74.9 million who have been infected (roughly 43 percent).

AIDS-related deaths have been reduced by more than 56 percent since the peak in 2004 due to education, testing and treatments.

We now have Antiretrovirals, PrEP and PEP, yet many people remain ignorant about the ways in which HIV is transmitted. Stigma against HIV-positive people persists, especially among younger Americans.

A survey released in November 2019 found that more than a quarter (28 percent) of HIV-negative millennials have avoided hugging, talking to or being friends with someone with the virus. Thirty percent said they’d prefer not to interact socially at all with people who have HIV. When asked about awareness of HIV, 41% HIV-negative Generation Z respondents said they were either not at all or only somewhat informed about the virus, compared with 23% of HIV-negative millennials.

Respondents were also questioned about sexual health behaviors. According to the survey results, 67% of HIV-negative participants reported HIV was more concerning than other sexually transmitted infections. However, 54% of participants did not report using condoms or pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP).

This demonstrates a startling point, as 75% of millennial respondents and 60% of Generation Z participants living with HIV reported contracting HIV through sex without condoms or PrEP.

How ironic to miss out on a hug with a person who can’t give you HIV with a hug, but have sex with someone else without a condom or don’t use PrEP or PEP. Ignorance and stigma are the killers here.

Anyone can contract HIV. It is found in blood, semen (cum), pre-seminal fluid (pre-cum), vaginal fluid, rectal fluid, and breast milk. HIV spreads when one of these fluids from a person who has untreated HIV enters the body of a person who does not. This can happen are through:

• Anal, oral, or vaginal sex
• Needles, syringes, or other injection equipment
• Pregnancy or childbirth

So, use your head and your heart. Use condoms, access PrEP and PEP, support worldwide access to retrovirals for everyone and be generous with your hugs. You have nothing to fear.

Best,

Cindi Love
Executive Director, Out for Undergrad
Sister of Patrick Leo Herndon who died of AIDS in 1988
Mom of Joshua Love who lives with undetectable HIV and one of the best huggers I know