GLAAD released the findings of its sixth annual State of HIV Stigma Report, created in partnership with Gilead Sciences. The study reveals a widening gap between game-changing scientific advancements in HIV prevention and treatment and awareness of these advances that can save lives and prevent new diagnoses.

• GLAAD’s 2026 State of Stigma Report Shows Alarming Gap Between Scientific Progress and Public Understanding Of HIV
• Only 31% of Gen Z Feel Knowledgeable About HIV, Far Behind Older Generations
• 44% of Americans Disagree With The Scientific Fact that Undetectable = Untransmittable
• 72% of Americans Have Not Seen Any Stories of People Living with HIV in Media

According to HIV.gov, approximately 1.2 million people in the U.S. are living with HIV. 13% of them do not know it, reinforcing the continued need for HIV testing as well as the necessity of ending stigma around HIV.

The 2026 report combines a survey of 2,500 U.S. adults, qualitative focus groups conducted in partnership with Ipsos, and community voices to map how Americans receive information about HIV prevention and treatment in today’s fragmented media ecosystem.

GLAAD’s State of HIV Stigma report was created in partnership with Gilead Sciences and produced by the GLAAD Media Institute, GLAAD’s training, research and consulting division. GLAAD and Gilead Sciences have partnered since 2019 on programming to reduce HIV stigma  and understand trends related to HIV education.

As the number of authentic stories about HIV and people living with HIV continue to decline across entertainment, journalism, and digital platforms, an “invisibility paradox” has emerged: the less the public sees real-life depictions of HIV, the more space is created for outdated assumptions, misinformation, and stigma to reverse decades of progress.

• Read the full 2026 State of HIV Stigma Report [HERE]
• Download the Digital Tool Kit [HERE]

Remarkable scientific progress has made HIV a preventable, treatable, and when treated properly, untransmittable condition. Medications like PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) protect people who do not have HIV from contracting HIV. People living with HIV can lead long and healthy lives and, when on effective treatment, cannot transmit HIV. But tremendous stigma around HIV remains, compounded by racism and anti-LGBTQ attitudes. This stigma fuels new HIV diagnoses.

Key Findings

• Stigma Remains High, Is a Barrier to Care, and Drives New Diagnoses:
  • 79% of Americans recognize that people living with HIV experience stigma and discrimination
  • 77% recognize stigma can discourage testing for HIV
  • 73% recognize stigma discourages seeking treatment for HIV
• Less Comfort Around People Living with HIV: fewer Americans report feeling comfortable around family members living with HIV (61%, down from 66% in 2024) or medical professionals living with HIV (45%, down from 50%).
• U=U Trust Gap: 44% of Americans disagree with the scientific fact of Undetectable = Untransmittable (U=U)—the fact that people living with HIV today, when on effective treatment, lead long and healthy lives and cannot transmit HIV. Treating HIV can suppress the virus to the point where it is no longer detected. When it is undetected, it is not sexually transmittable. 2026 marks ten years since the scientific recognition about U=U and the Prevention Access Campaign launched to share this lifesaving information about HIV treatment and prevention.
• GenZ Awareness Gap: Only 31% of Gen Z adults, the most out generation in history, report feeling knowledgeable about HIV, compared to 60% of Gen X adults.

Federal Spending on HIV Prevention and Treatment Plummets: Stigma remains codified into law, with 32 states continuing to enforce outdated HIV criminalization laws that discourage testing and subsequent treatment that can prevent transmission (Center for HIV Law and Policy). Concurrently, the public health response faces immense strain following the recent termination of approximately $600 million in CDC HIV and STI prevention grants. This loss of funding, with additional turmoil around critical Medicaid and ADAP funding, creates tremendous uncertainty for people living with HIV and their ability to afford and access care. 

HIV is Nearly Invisible Across Media

Efforts to end the HIV epidemic suffer from a notable lack of media visibility and discussion necessary to increase knowledge about preventing and treating HIV. Storytelling is essential to expand understanding about HIV and people living with HIV:

• Real-Life Representation: 72% of Americans report they have not seen stories featuring real people living with HIV in the media over the past 12 months, an increase from 66% in 2024. When the public sees people living with HIV lead long and successful lives, it helps inspire comfort with HIV testing and treatment.
• Television: 70% of Americans have not seen any depictions of people living with HIV in television or film over the past year (up from 65% in 2024 and 61% in 2023). According to GLAAD’s Where We Are on TV data, only one LGBTQ character living with HIV appeared during the 2024–2025 television season, and that character is not returning.
• Film: Out of 225 major studio films analyzed from 10 top distributors, only one film (Fairyland) featured a character living with HIV, and was set in the early days of the epidemic, instead of reflecting modern realities of living with HIV as a treatable, preventable condition.
• Podcasts and Social: Just 0.09% of podcast episodes analyzed mentioned HIV in the past year. Only 15% of Americans report seeing a story about someone living with HIV on social media in the past year. 75% of LGBTQ adults and 65% of non-LGBTQ adults seek news and information from social media at least a few times a week.

“Americans need accurate information, authentic stories, and policies that reflect today’s realities about living with HIV and the huge advancements in prevention and treatment,” said Sarah Kate Ellis, President and CEO of GLAAD. “This report should be a call to action for media, public health leaders, policymakers, and advocates to ensure that the way we talk about HIV catches up with what science has already made possible. Ending HIV will require all of us to choose truth over misinformation, visibility over silence, and facts over fear.”

Selections of leaders in HIV prevention and treatment from the report follow:

“The call to action is clear,” says Tami Haught and Kamaria Laffrey, Co-Executive Directors of The Sero Project. “Media must continue to evolve toward accurate, accountable storytelling. Policymakers must end harmful laws and invest in equitable public health systems. Funders must resource community-led solutions. And all of us must move beyond awareness into action, challenging stigma, confronting injustice, and showing up as active allies and accomplices. Because we are all HIV-possible, and that shared reality calls us to collective responsibility.”

“Stigma did not disappear. It evolved,” added Terrance Hunter, Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at 26Health and member of GLAAD’s Community HIV Stigma Advisory Committee. “If we are serious about ending the HIV epidemic, we must be just as intentional about dismantling stigma as we have been about advancing treatment. Because progress is not defined by what science makes possible—it is defined by what people are willing to accept, access, and, most importantly, act on.”

“U=U is more than just the scientific fact that people living with HIV with an undetectable viral load cannot sexually transmit the virus – it’s a life-changing message and helps combat stigma!” said Deondre B. Moore, Vice President of Community Impact at The Freelux Project and member of GLAAD’s Community HIV Stigma Advisory Committee. “Health care providers and advocates all over the world have a duty to continue sharing this information to ensure trust in the science.”

“In rural Appalachia, small policy shifts have outsized impact,” explained Daniel J. Downer, Racial Equity Consultant at Blue Ridge Pride and member of GLAAD’s Community HIV Stigma Advisory Committee. “When Medicaid coverage is unstable, when prevention funding plateaus, when public health departments are understaffed, there isn’t a backup system waiting in the wings. One funding gap can mean the difference between someone staying virally suppressed or falling out of care.”

Methodology

The 2026 State of HIV Stigma Study was conducted via an online survey in January 2025 among a nationally representative sample of 2,500 U.S. adults ages 18+. Following the quantitative study, qualitative virtual focus groups were commissioned by GLAAD and executed by Ipsos in September 2025, capturing localized and intersectional insights from Gen Z adults, MSM of color, cisgender and transgender women of color, and Spanish-speaking Latine communities living both with and without HIV.