World AIDS Day has been observed on Dec. 1 since 1988. This date is an opportunity to remember all those we lost during the HIV pandemic, and to reflect on the progress made to date in treating this virus and in diminishing stigma surrounding AIDS. Each year, our resolve to ending the epidemic once and for all strengthens.

 

What It Means to Have HIV in 2022

The progress scientists and physicians have made in treating HIV and preventing the spread of the virus is remarkable. In the last 30 years, treatment options have rapidly evolved. Most people living with HIV can now be treated with just one oral medicine, taken daily. Modern HIV treatments are very well tolerated, and most people experience few or no side effects.

 

Treatments are highly effective, with nearly all people who regularly take their medications rapidly arriving at a point where they live with a level of the virus that is so low, it’s considered “undetectable.”

 

What is “U=U”?

You may have heard or seen the slogan “U=U,” or undetectable equals untransmissible. U=U has been proven by a large amount of scientific evidence; people who have an undetectable level of HIV, and continue their medications, cannot transmit HIV through sex to their partners who don’t have HIV. Put in another way, while on treatment, a person with “undetectable” HIV has zero risk of sexual transmission to others.

 

In terms of prevention, we have made tremendous progress over the last decade. There are now three incredibly safe and effective options for HIV prevention, including oral and injectable medications. When taken before potential HIV exposure, as pre-exposure prophylaxis or “PrEP,” these medications dramatically reduce the risk of contracting HIV.

 

Transplant & New Treatments

People with and without HIV should receive the same treatment options and care for conditions that are unrelated to HIV. The HIV Organ Policy Equity Act (HOPE Act) of 2013 allowed people with HIV to choose to become organ donors for others with the same status. This has saved many lives.

 

This year, clinicians at Montefiore Medical Center performed a first-of-its-kind heart and kidney transplant from a donor with HIV to a recipient with HIV. Our researchers are also working on new approaches to prevent and treat cancers related to HIV.

 

A Hopeful Future

While we continue to work towards the goal of ending the HIV epidemic, there are already many tangible reasons to be hopeful. I’m reminded of this each time I help a patient start treatment or use PrEP; I can see the confidence they feel being in control of their health.

 

You too can make a difference by getting updated HIV testing and sharing the advances in HIV medicine. On World AIDS Day 2022, join me in a pause, to remember all the vibrant people we lost, and to also look ahead with hope and resolve. No one should die from HIV infection. Spread the word!

 

Eric A. Meyerowitz MD is an infectious disease specialist at Montefiore Medical Center and an assistant professor of medicine at Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

 

Editor’s Note: Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson joined health and community leaders on Fordham Plaza in Fordham Manor on Thursday, Dec. 1, 2022, to mark World AIDS Day. Information and resources were provided to members of the public to increase awareness of the HIV virus as rates in The Bronx have increased in recent years, despite a global decline since the dark days of the AIDS crisis in the 1980s.

 

“Today, we gathered with our community partners in solidarity with those affected by HIV/AIDS to bring awareness to this epidemic and fight against the stigma that keeps people from getting tested,” Gibson said.

 

Norwood News previously reported on this worrying trend in The Bronx earlier this year, particularly as it pertains to the transgender community. Meanwhile, in October, we also reported on an announcement by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases about a three-dose Hepatitus B vaccine regimen that protects people with HIV, and in July, we reported how the world’s first HIV-positive to HIV-positive heart transplant was successfully carried out in The Bronx by a medical team at Montefiore Health System. Heart transplant recipient and Westchester resident, Miriam Nieves, recently met the family or her donor from Louisiana, as reported.