HIV Treatment as Prevention (TasP)
When HIV+ people take HIV antiretroviral (ART) medication as prescribed, the amount of HIV in the body, also known as the “viral load”, can be suppressed enough that an HIV test can’t even read it. This is called an undetectable viral load. When a viral load is undetectable, it is also untransmittable. That means for a person who has an undetectable viral load, there is effectively no risk of spreading HIV to another person. HIV treatment can be used as a way to help prevent HIV from spreading!
Undetectable = Untransmittable, or U=U, is a campaign to educate the public about HIV treatment as prevention.
Resources:
- NIAID: 10 Things to Know about HIV Suppression
- Prevention Access Campaign
- CDC page on treatment as prevention
