With high profile faces like Prince Harry talking about HIV, stigma around the illness is slowly but surely reducing, but we still have a long, long way to go.
Earlier this year research found that two in five people “would be uncomfortable dating someone living with HIV on effective treatment”.
Lack of awareness around the improvements in treatment could be one explanation.
Research looking at data of more than 88,000 people with HIV shows young people receiving treatment in 2017 now have a “near-normal” life expectancy thanks to improvements in antiretroviral therapy.
A 20-year-old patient starting therapy today is expected to live to 78 years old, similar to the general population, which has a life expectancy of 81 years.
Improved treatments now mean that for many men and women, their HIV is undetectable - meaning the HIV levels in their blood are so low they cannot be detected by tests used to measure viral load and that the disease cannot be passed on through sexual intercourse or to a new generation.
Despite these huge steps forward, there are still many misconceptions around HIV. To change this and challenge stigma, here are seven things people with HIV want you to know.
