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Is "Undetectable = Untransmissible" Good Public Health Messaging?
Rayner Kay Jin Tan1, Jane Mingjie Lim2, Jeremiah Kah Wai Chan3
1Postdoctoral fellow at the National University of Singapore's Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health.
Abstract:
This article considers merits and drawbacks of "undetectable = untransmissible" (U = U) messaging in the global HIV response. First, viral suppression might be achieved with effective treatment, but not everyone living with HIV has access to such intervention and care. Second, although U = U can help individuals living with HIV, this messaging might stigmatize those for whom interventions have not achieved viral suppression. Third, although biomedical advances have attempted to address infectiousness, syndemic drivers that predispose individuals to HIV acquisition are not well accounted for by U = U messaging.
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