PROVIDENCE – The R.I. Department of Health has announced its support of “Undetectable = Untransmittable,” or U=U, an international HIV prevention campaign that is also in use in many states across the country.
The campaign is based on the scientific consensus that people diagnosed with HIV who take antiretroviral drugs daily and who have undetectable HIV blood levels have virtually no risk of transmitting the virus to sex partners.
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“Everyone deserves an equal opportunity to be healthy, regardless of who they are, who they love or where they live,” said R.I. Department of Health Director Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott.
She added that stigma and discrimination have long acted as barriers to proper care for people with HIV or those at risk for the virus.
“This campaign is about replacing stigma with science,” Alexander-Scott said. “By taking their medication daily, a person living with HIV can have a long, healthy life without any fear of transmitting HIV to their partner.”
Rhode Island’s endorsement of the campaign was announced early this month at a World AIDS Day event in Pawtucket.
The number of newly diagnosed HIV cases in the state has fallen over the past decade, from 117 in 2009 to 73 in 2018, according to the R.I. Department of Health.
Rhode Island’s progress on the HIV front is measured by the “90 90 90 Campaign,” which aims to see 90% of people living with HIV know their status, 90% of people with HIV in care, and 90% of those with HIV on medication to suppress the virus, all by 2020.
Rhode Island met the first benchmark in 2018, with 92.3% of people with HIV aware of their status, but has not yet achieved the other two goals.
