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The AIDS virus could be transmitted via a tattoo, a hug, a shared glass of water, or a handshake, while the morning after pill, a personal toiletry product, or even a paracetamol tablet would constitute effective barriers to protect yourself from the virus. So many preconceived – and false – ideas which still circulate 40 years after the discovery of the AIDS virus, and which it is necessary to combat in order to stop the disease and fight against all forms of stigmatization. On the occasion of World AIDS Day, here are five to brush aside.
“AIDS is gone” – FALSE!
Less present in the media for several years, AIDS has not (yet) disappeared. Although treatments allow people with HIV to “live better”, they do not cure them. Likewise, scientific advances have also helped reduce the mortality rate, but 630,000 people died from AIDS-related illnesses worldwide in 2022, according to data published by the World Health Organization (WHO). The global health authority also reveals that around 39 million people are living with HIV worldwide, and 1.3 million have been newly infected, still in 2022.
“HIV and AIDS are the same” – FALSE!
There is a difference between HIV infection and AIDS. The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) can, without treatment, cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), the most advanced phase of HIV infection. In other words, a person who has AIDS is necessarily infected with HIV even though the opposite is not true. A person infected with HIV has not necessarily developed AIDS; hence the importance of treatments.
“A person carrying HIV under treatment can transmit the virus” – FALSE!
If the condom remains essential to prevent any risk of transmission, a person taking “antiretroviral treatment every day as prescribed and [atteignant] And [maintenant] an undetectable viral load has no risk of transmitting the virus to an HIV-negative partner”, recalls Sida Info Service. This is the famous “I = I”, i.e. Undetectable = Untransmittable.
“Taking an oral contraceptive prevents you from contracting HIV” – FALSE!
Although the condom and the pill both help prevent unwanted pregnancy, they do not have the same power when it comes to HIV transmission. Placed correctly and used correctly, the first effectively prevents the transmission of HIV, while the second is absolutely not a means of prevention.
“HIV can be transmitted by kissing” – FALSE!
Lack of knowledge about the modes of transmission persists despite numerous information campaigns on the subject. HIV is not spread by kissing, mosquito bites, using public toilets, or drinking from a glass of someone who is HIV-positive. To put it simply, it is not a contagious disease, therefore no transmission by saliva, cough, or perspiration. “HIV is most often transmitted during unprotected sexual intercourse if there is vaginal or anal penetration, (…) through significant contact with contaminated blood when sharing injection equipment or in the event of an accident. ‘exposure (for caregivers)’, recalls Santé Publique France.