During this year’s Pride season, a national LGBTQ advocacy group promoted more than queer equality. The Human Rights Campaign Foundation joined the U=U National Task Force as an inaugural member to help promote modern HIV prevention, notably the fact that people with HIV who take medication and maintain an undetectable viral load cannot transmit HIV via sex, often referred to as Undetectable Equals Untransmittable, or U=U.

 

The task force’s efforts include educating policymakers, Congress members and the public not just about U=U but also about pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, the daily pills and long-acting injectables that prevent HIV.

 

Beyond prevention, HIV meds known as antiretrovirals primarily offer benefits for those living with the virus. For example, people with HIV who have an undetectable viral load also experience slower disease progression, have a lower risk for opportunistic illnesses and enjoy better overall health.

 

Organized by the Prevention Access Campaign (PAC), the U=U National Task Force also includes the HIV organizations NMAC, the Elton John AIDS Foundation, the Southern AIDS Coalition and The Well Project as well as the LGBTQ and social justice advocacy group Equality Federation.

 

The Human Rights Campaign Foundation is the educational arm of the Human Rights Campaign. The U=U National Task Force was launched in collaboration with the Congressional HIV Caucus and was announced at the nation’s capital.

 

According to a press statement, the U=U National Task Force will work toward the following goals:

 

  • Educate policymakers and the public about U=U (and PrEP) as the path to transform lives and end the HIV epidemic in America;
  • Educate policymakers about the social, economic and public health benefits of increasing access and removing the social, structural
    and legal barriers to HIV treatment, care and services;
  • Move U.S. federal health departments to integrate U=U fully into the domestic HIV response;
  • Secure commitments and accountability structures to take the actions outlined in the Multinational U=U Call to Action;
  • Document and showcase the U.S. leadership’s scale-up as a model to move other governments.