CDC Officially Admits People With HIV Who Are Undetectable Can't Transmit HIV

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention quietly released groundbreaking news yesterday when they announced that people with HIV whose treatment has made their viral load undetectable can't transmit HIV to others.

HIV Plus Mag reported that the CDC finally joins hundreds of other experts and HIV organizations to say that the undetectables -- who make up nearly half of all HIV-positive people in the U.S. -- cannot transmit HIV.

In recognition of National Gay Men's HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, the CDC memo stated, "On this day, we join together in taking actions to prevent HIV among gay and bisexual men and ensure that all gay and bisexual men living with HIV get the care they need to stay healthy."

Gay and bisexual men, the CDC noted, continue to be disproportionately affected by HIV, with, "more than 26,000 gay and bisexual men received an HIV diagnosis in 2015, representing two-thirds of all new diagnoses in the United States, and diagnoses increased among Hispanic/Latino gay and bisexual men from 2010 to 2014."

But trends suggest that prevention efforts are slowing the spread of HIV among some gay and bisexual men. From 2010 to 2014, HIV diagnoses fell among white gay and bisexual men and remained stable among African-American gay and bisexual men after years of increases.

The memo states that "Scientific advances have shown that antiretroviral therapy (ART) preserves the health of people living with HIV. We also have strong evidence of the prevention effectiveness of ART. When ART results in viral suppression, defined as less than 200 copies/ml or undetectable levels, it prevents sexual HIV transmission. Across three different studies, including thousands of couples and many thousand acts of sex without a condom or pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), no HIV transmissions to an HIV-negative partner were observed when the HIV-positive person was virally suppressed. This means that people who take ART daily as prescribed and achieve and maintain an undetectable viral load have effectively no risk of sexually transmitting the virus to an HIV-negative partner."

In other words, having one's HIV suppressed to undetectable levels prevents transmission.

HIV Plus Mag spoke with Bruce Richman, executive director of UequalsU.org and the Prevention Access Campaign, which has led the educational effort around the Undetectable=Untransmittable message.

Said Richman, "This is the moment we have been waiting for! The CDC agreed today there is 'effectively no risk' of sexually transmitting HIV when on treatment and undetectable."

Added Richman: "It's time to make history and share this news!"

He called on other HIV and LGBT organizations to join "nearly 400 organizations from 56 countries that have signed on as part of a growing and vibrant U=U Community Partner network. Resources on U=U messaging in the U.S. and around the world as well as the related issues of unequal access, social determinants of health, and HIV criminalization are on our website."