{"id":2483,"date":"2019-10-30T05:44:34","date_gmt":"2019-10-30T05:44:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/news\/?p=2483"},"modified":"2021-03-31T00:42:12","modified_gmt":"2021-03-30T19:12:12","slug":"hiv-treatment-is-one-of-the-greatest-medical-trajectories-of-all-time-but-still-remains-one-of-the-most-demonised-of-illnesses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/hiv-treatment-is-one-of-the-greatest-medical-trajectories-of-all-time-but-still-remains-one-of-the-most-demonised-of-illnesses\/","title":{"rendered":"HIV treatment is one of the &#8216;greatest medical trajectories of all time&#8217; \u2014 but still remains one of the most \u00addemonised of illnesses"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Source: inews.co.uk<\/p>\n<div class=\"sc-gNJABI sc-yZwTr ccQbht\">\n<p>On a recent weekend Ashley Dunn, a 48-year old designer, had unprotected sex with an\u00a0HIV\u00a0positive man he met in a bar. The man warned him of his HIV status and Dunn weighed up the risks and decided to sleep with him anyway.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-gNJABI sc-yZwTr ccQbht\">\n<p>\u201cHe said, \u2018I\u2019m undetectable which means I can\u2019t pass it on\u2019,\u201d says Dunn. \u201cThen he told me, \u2018you\u2019re actually more of a risk to me than I am to you. I know my status and have been checked. You haven\u2019t\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"sc-gNJABI sc-yZwTr ccQbht\">\n<p>Not so many years ago this act could have dealt a sure-fire death sentence to Dunn. It was as recent as the 1980s when HIV swept onto these shores, decimating communities and striking fear into a generation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-gNJABI sc-yZwTr ccQbht\">\n<p>Back then we didn\u2019t even know if you could catch HIV by drinking from the same glass &#8211; so condomless sex was suicidal. There was no treatment, no cure and no hope.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-gNJABI sc-yZwTr ccQbht\">\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_81 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/hiv-treatment-is-one-of-the-greatest-medical-trajectories-of-all-time-but-still-remains-one-of-the-most-demonised-of-illnesses\/#Gareth_Thomas_and_HIV\" >Gareth Thomas and HIV<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/hiv-treatment-is-one-of-the-greatest-medical-trajectories-of-all-time-but-still-remains-one-of-the-most-demonised-of-illnesses\/#HIV_%E2%80%93_from_a_plague_to_a_manageable_disease\" >HIV &#8211; from a plague to a manageable disease<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/hiv-treatment-is-one-of-the-greatest-medical-trajectories-of-all-time-but-still-remains-one-of-the-most-demonised-of-illnesses\/#%E2%80%98I_lost_so_many_friends_to_the_infection\" >&#8216;I lost so many friends to the infection&#8217;<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/hiv-treatment-is-one-of-the-greatest-medical-trajectories-of-all-time-but-still-remains-one-of-the-most-demonised-of-illnesses\/#Zero_risk_of_transmission\" >Zero risk of transmission<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/hiv-treatment-is-one-of-the-greatest-medical-trajectories-of-all-time-but-still-remains-one-of-the-most-demonised-of-illnesses\/#Reaching_a_younger_generation\" >Reaching a younger generation<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/hiv-treatment-is-one-of-the-greatest-medical-trajectories-of-all-time-but-still-remains-one-of-the-most-demonised-of-illnesses\/#Tired_of_being_scared\" >Tired of being scared<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/hiv-treatment-is-one-of-the-greatest-medical-trajectories-of-all-time-but-still-remains-one-of-the-most-demonised-of-illnesses\/#A_drug_for_safer_sex\" >A drug for safer sex<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/hiv-treatment-is-one-of-the-greatest-medical-trajectories-of-all-time-but-still-remains-one-of-the-most-demonised-of-illnesses\/#The_most_demonised_of_illnesses\" >The most demonised of illnesses<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/hiv-treatment-is-one-of-the-greatest-medical-trajectories-of-all-time-but-still-remains-one-of-the-most-demonised-of-illnesses\/#%E2%80%98The_stigma_was_the_worst_thing\" >&#8216;The stigma was the worst thing&#8217;<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/hiv-treatment-is-one-of-the-greatest-medical-trajectories-of-all-time-but-still-remains-one-of-the-most-demonised-of-illnesses\/#Fast_facts_people_with_HIV_in_2018\" >Fast facts: people with HIV in 2018<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Gareth_Thomas_and_HIV\"><\/span>Gareth Thomas and HIV<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-gNJABI sc-yZwTr ccQbht\">\n<p>Last month former Welsh rugby captain Gareth Thomas\u00a0announced that he had been living with HIV\u00a0for years. On the day of his declaration he competed in a 140.6-mile Ironman triathlon, one of the world\u2019s most gruelling races.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-gNJABI sc-yZwTr ccQbht\">\n<p>Here was a man at absolute peak physical fitness saying to the world he had been living with HIV for years. The impact of this disclosure has been huge.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sc-gNJABI sc-yZwTr ccQbht\">\n<p>The BBC screened a documentary about Thomas\u2019s life in the run up to him going public. Interestingly, his actual illness hardly featured. A single pill of antiretroviral therapy (ART) taken daily means his life expectancy is normal.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-gNJABI sc-yZwTr ccQbht\">\n<p>It also means that his viral load, or level of HIV in his blood, is low enough to be considered undetectable. That means he and his husband Stephen, who is HIV negative, can have unprotected sex without fear of infection.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-gNJABI sc-yZwTr ccQbht\">\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"HIV_%E2%80%93_from_a_plague_to_a_manageable_disease\"><\/span>HIV &#8211; from a plague to a manageable disease<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-gNJABI sc-yZwTr ccQbht\">\n<p>Today there are around 101,600 HIV positive people living in the UK. A decade ago these people would have been on a complicated cocktail of up to 20 different drugs a day, dealing with the devastation of the illness alongside a catalogue of unpleasant side effects from the medication.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-gNJABI sc-yZwTr ccQbht\">\n<p>Now, like Thomas, most take a single pill and have a normal life expectancy &#8211; the virus all but invisible. Next year, subject to approval from licensing authorities, this medication should be available in the form of just one single, monthly injection.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-gNJABI sc-yZwTr ccQbht\">\n<p>\u201cThe treatment of HIV has been absolutely one of the most spectacular treatment progressions in medicine,\u201d says Professor Chloe Orkin, consultant in HIV medicine at Barts Health NHS Trust. \u201cTo go from a plague to a manageable disease where people can live a normal life expectancy within the space of such a short period of time, is one of the greatest medical trajectories of all time.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"sc-gNJABI sc-yZwTr ccQbht\">\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%98I_lost_so_many_friends_to_the_infection\"><\/span>&#8216;I lost so many friends to the infection&#8217;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-gNJABI sc-yZwTr ccQbht\">\n<p>Orkin trained to be a doctor in the largest hospital in the township of Soweto in South Africa in the 1990s. It was a time when about a third of all people on the wards were infected with HIV. Of her own tight-knit group of friends she lost about 10 to\u00a0Aids.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-gNJABI sc-yZwTr ccQbht\">\n<p>\u201cMy friends were all at variable stages of the infection and there was no treatment,\u201d she says. \u201cIt was totally devastating. All my friends died except for one who managed to get on to an early AZT drug trial. He later killed himself because he had survivor\u2019s guilt.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-gNJABI sc-yZwTr ccQbht\">\n<p>In 1998 Orkin came to the UK to complete her training. At 29 she took up her post at Barts where she became its youngest ever HIV consultant and created what is now a world-renowned research unit there.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-gNJABI sc-yZwTr ccQbht\">\n<p>In 2017 Orkin, as chair of the British HIV Association, was one of the very first medical professionals to put her head above the parapet and use the word \u201czero\u201d risk as opposed to \u201cnegligible\u201d risk and unequivocally confirm that it is now completely safe to have unprotected sex if the level of virus in the blood is low enough.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-gNJABI sc-yZwTr ccQbht\">\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Zero_risk_of_transmission\"><\/span>Zero risk of transmission<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<div class=\"sc-gNJABI sc-yZwTr ccQbht\">\n<p>\u201cStudies from hundreds of thousands of sex acts show that if the virus is undetectable then it cannot be passed on during sex without a condom. We say Undetectable = Untransmittable, or U=U,\u201d says Orkin. \u201cAnd we don\u2019t say negligible risk. We say zero risk. The language is very important.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-gNJABI sc-yZwTr ccQbht\">\n<p>The latest data shows that the UK has smashed all UN targets for HIV. And London, in particular, has become a global beacon for best practice (in 97 per cent of people diagnosed, the virus is now undetectable).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-gNJABI sc-yZwTr ccQbht\">\n<p>But while most of the gay community is clearly clued up and accessing excellent care, there are some small, but still worrying, indicators. The number of late diagnoses, for example, now stands at 43 per cent. This is due to demographics such as women, heterosexual men and black African males being less likely to believe they are at risk.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-gNJABI sc-yZwTr ccQbht\">\n<p>A late diagnosis means not only are some people actually very sick when they seek help, but they have more opportunity to unknowingly infect others.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-gNJABI sc-yZwTr ccQbht\">\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Reaching_a_younger_generation\"><\/span>Reaching a younger generation<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-gNJABI sc-yZwTr ccQbht\">\n<p>Jo Josh was a successful crisis management consultant from Surrey when she received the shock of finding out she was HIV positive in 2008. \u201cI am a blonde, middle class woman. I wasn\u2019t in an at-risk group,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-gNJABI sc-yZwTr ccQbht\">\n<p>\u201cSometimes you can feel as if you aren\u2019t part of the conversation. It revolves around white gay men talking about white gay men. But worldwide 53 per cent of HIV cases are actually women.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-gNJABI sc-yZwTr ccQbht\">\n<p>&#8220;One of the reasons women don\u2019t figure more prominently in the dialogue could be because we worry about the impact our diagnosis could have on our children. It\u2019s one thing to talk about your diagnosis if you\u2019re a single man, but quite another if you\u2019ve got kids at school.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-gNJABI sc-yZwTr ccQbht\">\n<p>Ashley Dunn also worries that for all the progress we\u2019ve made a rather more lackadaisical attitude may have set in amongst the younger generation of gay men who weren\u2019t around to witness the terrifying, \u201csilence=death\u201d public information films of the late 1980s.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-gNJABI sc-yZwTr ccQbht\">\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s a term \u2018bug chasers\u2019 &#8211; these are people who don\u2019t care, who\u2019d have bareback sex [without a condom] without asking any questions,\u201d says Dunn. \u201cIf you look on dating apps there are plenty of people who state they want to have sex with HIV positive people only.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-gNJABI sc-yZwTr ccQbht\">\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Tired_of_being_scared\"><\/span>Tired of being scared<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<div class=\"sc-gNJABI sc-yZwTr ccQbht\">\n<p>Rui Cavolo a 31-year old perfume retailer from Selfridges, has seen this, too. \u201cI know some people who are just so tired of being scared of catching HIV that they kind of hope that they get it because then they can just relax. There\u2019s a bit of nihilist attitude too. Right now it feels that London is rife with HIV.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-gNJABI sc-yZwTr ccQbht\">\n<p>Days after Gareth Thomas came out as HIV positive so too did\u00a0gregarious US hairdresser Jonathan van Ness, one of the presenters of the reality show\u00a0<em>Queer Eye<\/em>. It felt like a very different to the message to the one Gareth Thomas sent.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-gNJABI sc-yZwTr ccQbht\">\n<p>\u201cIt would be wrong to say it was HIV glamorisation but he came out to quite a bit of fanfare, saying how proud he felt to be part of the HIV community,\u201d says Cavolo. \u201cI think he intended the message to be, it\u2019s not dirty to have HIV, but it actually felt like he was saying it\u2019s good to have HIV &#8211; almost like a celebration.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-gNJABI sc-yZwTr ccQbht\">\n<p>&#8220;Try going to certain parts of the US and say you have HIV. I\u2019m not sure you\u2019d be allowed to cut anyone\u2019s hair.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-gNJABI sc-yZwTr ccQbht\">\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"A_drug_for_safer_sex\"><\/span>A drug for safer sex<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-gNJABI sc-yZwTr ccQbht\">\n<p>Cavolo, who has had various HIV scares and whose sex life ranks him as \u201chigh risk\u201d, has been taking medication called PrEP since last year. This stands for Pre-exposure Prophylaxis and is a pill that HIV negative people can take prior to sex to reduce the risk of transmission. Cavolo is taking part in an impact trial of 13,000 people in the UK.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-gNJABI sc-yZwTr ccQbht\">\n<p>\u201cPrEP gives me a second layer of protection,\u201d he says. \u201cEven though there are drugs to make it undetectable, contracting HIV still changes your life. It\u2019s an incurable disease, I don\u2019t want to catch it. Having unprotected sex filled me with a lot of guilt. PrEP has enabled me relax about fear of infection.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-gNJABI sc-yZwTr ccQbht\">\n<p>There has been much controversy about this PrEP trial. While PrEP is available on the NHS in Scotland, trials are still being run in England and Wales. Earlier this month the BBC reported that at least 15 people have actually contracted HIV while waiting to get accepted to receive the drug.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-gNJABI sc-yZwTr ccQbht\">\n<p>\u201cThere has been a lot of criticism because essentially PrEP has already been shown to be effective,\u201d says Orkin. \u201cAs well as Scotland it has been implemented in large areas of Paris without any problem. It looks like a delaying tactic in order to save money.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-gNJABI sc-yZwTr ccQbht\">\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_most_demonised_of_illnesses\"><\/span>The most demonised of illnesses<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-gNJABI sc-yZwTr ccQbht\">\n<p>Despite huge leaps in treatment, HIV still remains the most demonised of illnesses. Because it was originally seen as a gay disease and because it is sexually transmitted, it was born in a perfect storm of ignorance and homophobia. One hangover from this is the idea that HIV positive people are dangerous and contagious.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-gNJABI sc-yZwTr ccQbht\">\n<p>These attitudes became entrenched and people with HIV are discriminated against regularly. In July this year a hospital in Bristol, for example, apologised to an HIV positive patient for cancelling her surgery twice because they believed theatre would need a \u201cdeep clean\u201d before they were willing to touch her. And an HIV positive pilot was recently refused clearance to fly when Easyjet cited possible side-effects from his medication as an excuse.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-gNJABI sc-yZwTr ccQbht\">\n<p>Rosalie Hayes from the National Aids Trust takes on these cases of discrimination frequently. \u201cUnless you are in the army or working in very specific health care roles, there is no reason why your employer would ever need to ask about your HIV status, but many still do,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-gNJABI sc-yZwTr ccQbht\">\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%98The_stigma_was_the_worst_thing\"><\/span>&#8216;The stigma was the worst thing&#8217;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-gNJABI sc-yZwTr ccQbht\">\n<p>Certainly in Thomas\u2019s case stigma was by far the worst thing about having the illness. \u201cI was fearful of everything,\u201d he says in the film. \u201cRejection, people not want to be in the same room as me. I was fearful of waking up every single day to what was going to be in the newspaper. I was living with the deep, deep shame of living with HIV.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-gNJABI sc-yZwTr ccQbht\">\n<p>Orkin agrees. \u201cStigma is still the number one problem,\u201d she concludes. \u201cWe have worked out how people can live a physically healthy life with HIV. The challenge now is to reduce the impact mentally. Stigma leads to people not getting diagnosed. If you get diagnosed and start treatment early you live a normal life expectancy. If you get diagnosed late you die.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-gNJABI sc-yZwTr ccQbht\">\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Fast_facts_people_with_HIV_in_2018\"><\/span>Fast facts: people with HIV in 2018<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-hizQCF lgexig\">\n<ul>\n<li>\u00a0<strong>Eastern and southern Africa:<\/strong>\u00a020.6 million<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0<strong>Asia and the Pacific:<\/strong>\u00a05.9 million<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0<strong>Western and central Africa:<\/strong>\u00a05 million<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0<strong>Latin America:<\/strong>\u00a01.9 million<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0<strong>The Caribbean:<\/strong>\u00a0340,000<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0<strong>Middle East and North Africa:<\/strong>\u00a0240,000<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0<strong>Eastern Europe and central Asia:<\/strong>\u00a01.7 million<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0<strong>Western and central Europe and North America:<\/strong>\u00a02.2 million<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2484,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[62,2233,52,1599,1600,53],"class_list":["post-2483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aids-hiv","tag-aids","tag-features","tag-hiv","tag-sexual-health","tag-stis","tag-treatment"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>HIV treatment is one of the &#039;greatest medical trajectories of all time&#039; 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