As mpox cases start to rise again in some key areas, experts are urging queer people to remain vigilant and get vaccinated.
Mpox cases are down significantly since the epidemic reached its peak in the summer of 2022. The shift prompted the World Health Organisation (WHO) to declare that the outbreak was no longer a public health emergency on 11 May – but that doesn’t mean the virus has disappeared.
The WHO is now warning that mpox cases could rise again during the summer months as queer people congregate for Pride festivals and other gatherings.
“[Mpox] still is circulating, it still is with us, and still does represent an ongoing risk,” Dr Richard Pebody, mpox lead with the WHO, tells PinkNews.
“It’s much lower levels of cases now than what we were seeing before, but we also know – and this is the key message I really want to get out to folk – is that there is still the potential for flare-ups, for further outbreaks, this spring and summer.”
He continues: “We’ve seen recently a flare-up in France for example. We’ve also seen a flare-up just recently in the States, in Chicago. These have again really been occurring primarily in the GBMSM (gay, bisexual and men who have sex with men) community and many of the cases had a vaccine last year as well, so it is highlighting the ability of the virus to still circulate and to cause illness.”
That’s why the WHO is now launching a new campaign to remind the public that mpox is still circulating as the summer season begins.
“We know festivals where people get together there is an increase in sexual contact. There is the potential for further clusters and outbreaks in those types of settings,” Dr Pebody says.
“It’s really about putting this out there and raising people’s awareness that, on the one hand, we [should] celebrate where we are now, but also to highlight what we can do to keep ourselves and those around us safe.”
WHO urges people to get tested if they develop mpox symptoms
Dr Pebody says there are a range of things people can do to protect themselves and others from mpox this summer.
“On the one hand, if you suspect that you’ve got mpox yourself – so if you’ve started to develop a rash which is consistent with mpox – then get yourself checked out.
“Give the festival or the event a miss. Avoid close contact with others and that will certainly reduce your risk of then spreading that on to others – that’s a really important thing.”
People can also reduce their risk of contracting mpox by taking a smallpox vaccine if one is available in their country. Vaccines reduce both the risk of infection and the risk of severe illness.
The WHO wants people to stay safe this summer, but they also want to reassure queer people that they can still have fun while socialising or having sex with new partners.
“I would really try to reassure people not to be frightened,” Dr Pebody says.
“Certainly now in Europe, the incidence of mpox is much, much lower than it was last year. We’re in a much better position so we certainly don’t want to frighten people. What we want to do really is to remind people that mpox is still potentially out there, but there are things we can all do to reduce that risk of potentially being exposed.
“If you’re planning to go to a festival, to an event, do go – have fun, have a good time, but just remember what you can also do to protect yourself and others.”
The extension to the Same-Sex Marriage Act, approved on Tuesday (16 May), allows same-sex couples to jointly adopt a child to whom neither of them are related, a right previously only open to heterosexual couples and single people, CNN reported.
Previously, if a same-sex couple wanted to adopt a child, only one of them could register as the child’s legal parent.
“I am very excited that we granted joint adoption rights to same-sex couples today,” Fan Yun, a lawmaker from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), said.
“Legally, we have finally returned same-sex couples to their children… parental love is the same, and only through joint adoption can we protect the rights and interests of each other by law.”
The DPP described the law as a monumental milestone.
The introduction of same-sex adoption in Taiwan follows a ruling in December 2021 that challenged the ban, with a gay man in Kaohsiung City being granted the right to adopt his husband’s child.
A family court ruled that 38-year-old Wang Chen-wei’s child, whom he had previously adopted, could also be adopted by his 34-year-old husband Chen Chun-ju.
At the time, the ruling applied only to their specific case and did not legalise same-sex adoption country-wide, something Chen-wei described as absurd.
“I am happy that my spouse is also legally recognised as the father of our child… but I can’t feel all that happy without amending the law,” he told toAFP.
Taiwan recently held its first LGBTQ+ Pride celebration in two years – after the country relaxed its strict COVID-19 restrictions – which attracted more than 120,000 revellers to the capital Taipei.
Homophobic gangs in Nigeria are targeting LGBTQ+ people and blackmailing them for money using fake online dating profiles, it has been revealed.
These criminals are called ‘kito’, which is a Nigerian term for a person who pretends they are queer on social media and dating apps to entrap LGBTQ+ people.
A new BBC Africa documentary, Kito: Blackmailing LGBT Nigeria, sheds light on the crimes perpetuated against the country’s LGBTQ+ community, as criminals use people’s sexual identities to blackmail them.
In Nigeria, being gay can carry a maximum prison sentence of 14 years.
In the documentary, a father of three, Mohammed, shares the story of when he was the victim of a kito gang.
Mohammed had been talking to a man named Jamal online before he decided to meet up with him.
They went back to his home and when Mohammed got into the shower, a group of men burst in and began beating him. Jamal and the gang took a video of the assault and posted it online.
“I couldn’t believe that someone I trusted could go to the extent of doing that to me,” Mohammed told the BBC.
Mohammed said he became suicidal after the experience but his son’s unconditional love kept him alive.
“I called my kids, three of them. My son told me he loves his father. Even if his father is queer, he has no issues with that,” he said.
Emmanuel, another victim of the kito, told the BBC he was also filmed after being tricked. His attackers didn’t post the video online, but instead forced him to withdraw 500,000 naira (£860) from his bank accounts and tortured him with an iron.
He said the experience hurt him “mentally” and left him feeling “insecure”.
Most of the men interviewed in the documentary lost their jobs when the blackmail videos went online.
Crimes targeting gay men using dating apps have become a common occurrence across the continent. In South Africa, authorities recently warned gay men using Grindr to be careful as criminals were using the app to find targets and blackmail them.
Most top dating apps are entirely inclusive of trans people, which will come as terrible news to transphobes who are still raging over lesbian dating app HER’s ongoing support of its transgender users.
In recent weeks, HER has faced the vitriol of anti-trans bigots expressing outrage that the platform, which has been trans-inclusive “since day one”, welcomes trans and non-binary people.
And it’s not just HER. Leading dating apps such as Tinder, OkCupid, Hinge and Grindr are all trans inclusive and have zero-tolerance policies when it comes to transphobia on their platforms.
The pile-on faced by HER resulted in its Twitter account being temporarily suspended on Lesbian Visibility Day (26 April), after bigots reported it en masse. It has now been reinstated.
So-called gender critical male activists even took to creating accounts on HER in a bid to “catch out” trans women using it to find love – only to end up exposing one another instead.
The team behind the app did not take the hostility lying down and came out swinging for trans rights and in defence of HER’s trans and non-binary users.
In response to the attacks, the team sent a push notification to the app’s 10 million users,telling transphobes to delete it from their phones.
Robyn Exton, HER’s founder and chief executive, told PinkNews that the anti-trans hate was not slowing the team down and, instead, they are using it as an opportunity to double down and “to make our position exceptionally clear”.
Exton explained: “It’s kind of absurd that we’re now getting this vitriol, saying that we’re a lesbian app that is ‘now promoting’ inclusion of trans women. It always has, since day one.”
Transphobes enraged at HER’s policies will be hard-pressed to find a mainstream dating app that specifically excludes trans people.
Arguably the best-known dating app in the world, Tinder is often the first platform people new to the online dating world venture on to – and is open to the entire LGBTQ+ community.
The app has found LGBTQ+ people tend to use Tinder as the first place they are comfortably “out” after coming to terms with their identity, a spokesperson for the company told PinkNews.
The number of LGBTQ+ Tinder members under the age of 30 has doubled in the past three years, data from the platform showed.
A spokesperson said: “Tinder is an inclusive community where our members can freely express themselves, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.
“Vulnerable communities face outside bias, prejudice and stigma, and Tinder recognises the role it has to support the safety of all members on our platform.
“We’ve collaborated with leading organisations, including HRC [the Human Rights Council], RAINN [The Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network] and GLAAD to help us create an equitable and respectful platform where everyone can make meaningful connections.”
Additionally, in 2019 Tinder introduced its “traveller alert” an in-app function that enables LGBTQ+ users to “hide” their profile, should they be alerted by the platform that they have entered a country that discriminates against the queer community.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for OkCupid – which has 50 million registered users worldwide – told PinkNews that the platform supports the entire LGBTQ+ community.
“We were the first dating app to offer expanded gender and orientation options and we now offer users 22 genders and 20 orientation options that include agender, transgender, trans man and trans woman,” the spokesperson said.
“Last year, after hearing from non-binary and transgender daters, we realised there was an opportunity to educate and inform people about the different identities we offer on our app and added definitions to each of our gender and orientation options to help people better understand what these terms mean, and better serve all our users.”
The team is always working to create a “safer, more welcoming experience for everyone”, they added.
‘Transphobia is a violation of our terms’
On its website, Hinge – with its 23 million users – describes trans and gender non-conforming people as an “essential part of the [its] community”.
A Hinge spokesperson said: “At Hinge, we’re passionate about building a welcoming and effective dating app where everyone can find love.
“To support LGBTQIA+ daters in fully expressing themselves and foster an inclusive community, we’ve introduced a variety of app updates.”
These updates include NFAQ (Not-so Frequently Asked Questions), a resource for queer daters, prompts for LGBTQIA+ daters, the addition of pronoun options and more than 50 gender options for users.
“The safety and well-being of our trans daters are always a top priority,” the spokesperson added, “We have a zero-tolerance policy for hate and anyone exhibiting transphobic behaviour on Hinge will be banned from our community.
“If a user experiences transphobia, we encourage them to report it through our hate speech reporting option – which they can do directly within the app and our team will take immediate action.”
They added: “Anyone who reports a user for being trans or non-binary will be banned from our community. Furthermore, we have an ongoing relationship with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) to identify and remove any hate speech within our app.”
A statement from the company’s website also says: “We have never, and will never, ban someone based on their gender or gender expression. Being trans is no more a violation of our terms of service than being cis (cisgender refers to anyone who is not trans).
“Transphobia, on the other hand, including reporting someone simply for being trans, is definitely a violation of our terms of service. We have banned members in the past for reporting profiles for this reason and will continue to do so.
“It’s our responsibility to ensure that trans members feel safe and welcome on Hinge and we will continuously work to do just that.”
Perhaps best-known as a hook-up app for gay men, Grindr is proud of its inclusivity and describes itself as a “social networking app for gay, bi, trans and queer people”.
In 2017, the app introduced more gender options to enable users to be able to express themselves authentically.
This has expanded over the years and the app now hosts a range of community resourcesfor the trans, as well as the wider queer, community, covering everything from FAQs on gender identity to sexual health.
‘Real love is for everyone’
Although launched as a dating platform for solely cisgender, heterosexual people, eHarmony has grown over the years and now specifically labels itself as “LGBT friendly”.
The company website states: “We believe that real love is for everyone and we’re deeply committed to providing a platform that’s safe, inclusive and welcoming for every single one of our members.
“We don’t have a type – eHarmony members represent individuals of all ages, demographics and backgrounds.”
“We’ve learned and grown quite a bit in our 20+ years of helping millions find real love and we have continuously evolved to meet the needs of our members. The work to build a diverse and inclusive environment is never complete.
“We recognise that we have work left to do and we are committed to finding ways to be more inclusive to people of all gender identities and sexual orientations, across all facets of what we do.”
Schools in Wales and Scotland are implementing respective and inclusive guidance to help support LGBTQ+ students.
Both regions of the UK recently announced separate schemes that would support transgender and queer students by training faculty members on how to handle LGBTQ+ issues.
Reports reveal that 60 per cent of Scotland’s secondary schools have adopted LGBTQ+ Youth Scotland’s inclusivity scheme as of Monday (24 April).
The LGBT Charter aims to provide a number of resources, including awareness training and policy reviews, to help improve the treatment of LGBTQ+ youth in local schools.
So far, 212 of 357 secondary schools in Scotland have adopted it, along with 40 primary schools and 21 colleges.
Thirty-one of 34 secondary schools in Edinburgh have been awarded charter status and will receive the benefits of the scheme along with 31 out of 38 schools in Glasgow.
Additionally, every local authority has at least one or more school which has received charter status.
Partnerships director at LGBT Youth Scotland, Ali Kerr, said in a statement: “These are formative years for young people and it’s vital that LGBTQ+ individuals are supported.
“With nearly two-thirds of secondary schools participating, this represents a significant commitment from Scottish educators to LGBT inclusion.”
Wales schools to receive supportive LGBTQ+ guidance
Meanwhile, Wales aims to publish guidance on supporting transgender and LGBTQ+ pupils in the next academic year
The Welsh parliament said it would provide “clear and well-informed advice” after an “extensive” consultation session over the course of this year.
Efforts to improve LGBTQ+ awareness in schools come amid reports from various charities that teachers often lack the confidence to address certain issues in classrooms.
As a result, an LGBTQ+ Action Plan implemented by the Welsh government hopes to create a comprehensive guide for teachers by 2024. The government initially planned to release the scheme in late 2023, but delayed its publication to guarantee integrity.
“This is a complex area of policy which requires extensive consultation with experts, practitioners, and the public, as well as children and young people themselves,” BBC News reported the Welsh government as saying.
According to reports from The Sunday Times on 16 April, prime minister Rishi Sunak said he is “concerned about parental consent,” adding that the guidance will compel teachers to “inform parents about their children questioning their gender.”
“There are so many vulnerable children in education who need so much support, so much help, and this just isn’t something that is frankly needed in the education system at all,” one said.
LGBTQ+ refugees and asylum seekers in Kenya face the threat of deportation if proposed anti-homosexuality laws are passed in parliament.
Homosexuality is already illegal in Kenya, but the the Family Protection Bill 2023 would expand upon these laws, meaning LGBTQ+ people would face life sentences for simply identifying as themselves.
If passed, the bill would impose a jail term of no less than five years on people found guilty of assembling, picketing, promoting or supporting LGBTQ-specific activities.
This would be dire not only for Kenyans, but refugees as well. The proposed bill would also allow for “the expulsion of refugees and asylum seekers” who identify as LGBTQ+.
Kenya is home to half a million refugees in camps across the country from Kakuma and Dadaab, according to Washington Blade. Refugees and asylum seekers in Kenya are mainly from Burundi, Somalia, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, countries that have endured war, famine and economic instability.
Prior to this bill, Kenya was the only country in the region accepting refugee and asylum seekers without asking about their sexuality.
Recently, however, there have been increased attacks against LGBTQ+ people in the camps, especially in Kakuma, Kenya’s largest camp.
A report conducted by the Organisation for Refuge, Asylum and Migration (ORAM) found that 83 per cent of LGBTQ+ refugees at Kakuma experienced physical violence due to their sexual orientation, with 26 per cent reporting sexual assault.
The report includes the horrific experience of a trans refugee living in the camps, who shared that they were forced to have sex with a woman.
“They forced me to have sex with the lady. They then lectured me on the need to get married and have children of my own. They left me traumatized. Two days later they asked the lady to come and stay with me as my wife.
“That is when I escaped from the block and moved to live with a friend in an area far from my allocated shelter. I did not report the incident since I was afraid the police would equally stigmatise me for who I am.”
There are currently 300 LGBTQ+ refugees in Kakuma who have started an online petition, pleading with the Kenyan government to stamp out discrimination and address the mistreatment they’ve been dealing with in the camps.
The petition reads: “As refugees who have sought safety and refuge from conflict and persecution, we should not have to endure further suffering and discrimination within the confines of the camp. Yet, this is the reality for many of us.
“We are subjected to brutal attacks and physical violence from fellow refugees who hold homophobic views, leaving us with deep wounds and scars that often result in physical disability. Some of our community members have even lost their lives in these attacks.”
The proposed bill will only worsen their lives and leave them with nowhere to go.
President of Kenya William Ruto, however, slammed this ruling and said: “It is not possible for our country Kenya to allow same-sex marriages … It will happen in other countries but not in Kenya.”
Anti-homosexuality laws have increased across the African continent as more countries introduce oppressive laws that target LGBTQ+ people.
Fox News taking Tucker Carlson off the air means that one of the loudest anti-trans voices in US media falls silent – for now. But his anti-LGBTQ+ legacy will continue to reverberate.
Carlson was Fox News’ top-rated and most-watched host, and he’s been credited with setting the agenda for US conservatives from coast to coast.
Night after night, millions tuned in to watch Carlson rant and paint a dystopian picture of a US where conservatives are under attack from the encroaching ‘woke’ left.
Over the years his eponymous show aired, he raged against the LGBTQ+ community, embraced racist conspiracy theories and pushed an increasingly far-right agenda on his viewers.
His departure from the network came as a shock to many. In a terse statement released Monday (24 April), Fox News said it and Carlson agreed to “part ways” effective immediately. It’s been reported that the decision was made by Fox chair Rupert Murdoch.
It means that Carlson made his final appearance, apparently unknowingly, on Friday, bringing to a quiet close an era of right-wing hate and ‘radicalisation’.
It said he “worked to radicalise the Republican party in the direction of its most dangerous, authoritarian elements”.
“Carlson has been the face of the network since at least the 2020 election, with executives counting on his personal connection to viewers to keep them coming back as former president Donald Trump receded from the national stage,” Media Matters added.
“He used that opportunity to focus the network (and through it, the GOP) on his own particular obsessions, like the ‘great replacement’ conspiracy theory, anti-trans invective and support for authoritarian regimes in Russia and Hungary.”
Tucker Carlson was at the forefront of anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and attacks on trans rights
Among Carlson’s most vehemently pursued talking points was the idea that white, cisgender, heterosexual people are under attack in the US. It’s a common bigoted topic pushed by the right-wing to abuse anyone who deviates from their perceived norm.
Fast forward to 2020, he took to the air to call the Black Lives Matter protests an “insidious” attempt to “challenge Western civilisation itself”. He also called workplace anti-bias training “poison” and reverse racism.
Tucker Carlson has also been at the forefront of the modern attack on gender-affirming healthcare by the right-wing.
Over the years he appeared on Fox News, Carlson hosted a lengthy list of anti-trans guests, who espoused hateful talking points. He’s also devoted hearty chunks of his on-air career to personally attacking the lives of trans people.
In 2021, he hosted a guest who falsely suggested gender-affirming healthcare for trans youth allows people to “basically molest and abuse children”. Carlson agreed before falsely characterising such medical treatment as “genital mutilation”.
He depicted healthcare officials providing gender-affirming care as “criminals” and said Boston Children’s Hospital was “playing the victim” after it received bomb threats over such care.
Tucker Carlson used mass shootings to attack drag queens and trans people
Amid right-wing attacks against drag, Tucker Carlson said on Fox News that kid-friendly drag events were attempts to “indoctrinate and sexualise children”. In another segment, he claimed it’s “not that unfair” to accuse drag queens of “being creepy with kids”.
He also blasted what he described as the “sexualisation” of children by teachers and urged parents to “fight back” against discussions of LGBTQ+ issues in schools.
The host falsely claimed on his Fox News show that the school shooting “happened because of a deranged and demonic ideology that is infesting this country with the encouragement of people like Joe Biden”.
He also labelled trans people as the “natural enemy” of Christianity as he alleged that the “trans movement is targeting Christians”.
What will happen to Tucker Carlson after his Fox News exit?
Once O’Reilly stepped away for good from the mic, his name, reputation and sway in the right-wing crowd faded into obscurity. Carlson may face a similar fate.
It also came just a short while after Fox settled a defamation lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5m. The lawsuit centred on Fox airing false claims that the presidential election was stolen after former president Donald Trump’s 2020 loss.
Filings in the case featured a lengthy list of messages from Carlson disparaging the media group’s news division and management, revealed his feelings about Trump and demonstrated his scepticism of the ‘stolen election’ conspiracy theory.
The commissioner for The Council of Europe’s Human Rights is urging politicians in Slovakia to vote against proposed legislation that would effectively prevent trans people from having their gender legally recognised.
The bill, set to have its second reading next month, proposes only allowing someone to change their gender marking if they can prove, via genetic testing, it had been incorrectly determined.
In a letter to the Slovakia parliament, dated 19 April but released publically on 25 April, commissioner Dunja Mijatović said she was concerned that the bill would “effectively” mean trans men and women’s genders would not be legally recognised and “lead to human rights regression”.
She said it was “in conflict” with the Slovak Republic’s obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights.
It “should have triggered a process of addressing long-standing concerns about intolerance towards LGBTI people”, she said.
“However, I am disappointed that no discernible progress has been made, and that the human rights of LGBTI people in the Slovak Republic appear to be more, rather than less, at risk.”
Mijatović also used the letter to highlight issues relating to the rights of same-sex couples and hate incidents towards queer people.
Rights for same-sex couples in the Slovak Republic fell short of European Court of Human Rights case law, she said, noting, specifically, that the current legal framework did not grant same-sex couples “adequate recognition and protection of their relationship”.
She went further and urged that human rights of queer people be protected.
“These include ensuring that gender identity and sex characteristics are explicitly recognised as protected characteristics in hate-crime legislation, and included as aggravating circumstances when offences are committed on those grounds.”
Mijatović also recommended raising societal awareness and acceptance of sexual orientation and gender identity, noting parliamentarians had downplayed links between hate crimes and the wider Slovakia society and political sphere.
The Slovak Republic is not the only European country facing condemnation for its laws in relation to LGBTQ+ people.
Almost half of LGBTQ+ young adults the UK are estranged from at least one relative, with many feeling their family won’t accept them if they come out, a study has revealed.
The survey of 3,695 adults, aged between 18 and 25, found that 46 per cent of them are estranged from at least one family member, while 31 per cent said they weren’t confident their parent or guardian will accept them as they are.
Further findings, according to research conducted by LGBT+ young people’s charity, Just Like Us, revealed that 14 per cent of young LGBT+ adults said they weren’t close to their immediate family members, compared with six per cent of their straight peers. That figure jumped to 19 per cent for trans respondents and 23 per cent of non-binary participants.
The survey also discovered that lesbians were the most confident (72 per cent) that their parents or carers would accept them if they came out, followed by gay men at 68 per cent, while transgender and non-binary young people were equally the least likely to feel confident.
Amy Ashenden, the interim chief executive of Just Like Us, said the findings were “heartbreaking”.
“It’s sadly a common myth that being LGBT+ is easier today, when in fact many LGBT+ young adults remain fearful of their parents not accepting them, with almost half estranged from at least one family member,” she said.
Ashenden added that the LGBTQ+ community should know “that their identities are valid and deserve to be celebrated”, and that the charity hoped more parents and teachers will show them that this is the case.
“When there is silence, there is shame, so we must talk about these topics in school and at home, to ensure LGBT+ young people no longer live in fear of rejection.”
The research was carried out independently by market researchers Cibyl in January and will form part of Just Like Us’ Positive Futures report, covering a range of experiences of young LGBT+ adults in the UK, due to be published on 1 June.
Another study, published in the Annals of Epidemiology, revealed that LGBTQ+ youth in the US are spending significantly more time on their mobile phones than straight young people.
The study’s author, Jason Nagata, suggested that this could be down to higher levels of LGBTQ+ youth being excluded from school activities by their peers.
A 10-year study has found that Australia could become one of the first countries to “virtually eliminate” HIV transmissions, with new infections decreasing dramatically.
The findings, published inLancet HIV, showed that HIV infections decreased by 66 per cent between 2010 and 2019 in New South Wales and Victoria, while there was a 27 per cent rise in people accessing effective HIV treatment.
Increased access to HIV treatment and PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) – the medication that prevents a person from contracting HIV – was cited as a key reason for decreased transmissions.
The journal also endorsed the public health strategy “treatment as prevention” or TasP, explaining that HIV treatment “results in virally suppressing the HIV virus”, which reduces a person’s risk of transmitting HIV to another person to zero.
“We examined 10 years of clinical data from over 100,000 gay and bisexual men in New South Wales and Victoria,” Dr Denton Callander, who led the research at UNSW’s Kirby Institute, told the University of New South Wales.
“We found that over time, as viral suppression increased, HIV incidence decreased. Indeed, every percentage point increase in successfully treated HIV saw a fivefold decrease in new infections, thus establishing treatment as prevention as a powerful public health strategy.”
Dr Callander also underlined the importance of access to HIV testing, as well as the “widespread availability” of PrEP.
Professor Mark Stoové from the Burnet Institute, co-senior author on the paper, added that the success of Australian measures such as education on HIV and reduced patient treatment costs could see the country “virtually eliminate” new HIV transmissions.
“Australia is on track to become one of the first countries globally to virtually eliminate the transmission of HIV,” Professor Stoové said.
“The results of this research show that further investment in HIV treatment – especially alongside PrEP – is a crucial component of HIV elimination.”
HIV experts have explained how medical breakthroughs have transformed the treatment and prevention of the virus.
In fact, U=U means that if a HIV-positive person has been taking effective HIV treatment, and their viral load has been undetectable for six months or more, they cannot pass the virus on through sex.
In the UK, former health secretary Matt Hancock committed to ending new HIV transmissions by 2030, however, charities and activists have expressed doubt that the country will be able to meet its target.
Richard Angell, campaigns director at the Terrence Higgins Trust, told PinkNews that it’s now “possible but not probable” that the UK will reach the 2030 goal.
Some “huge successes” were praised in terms of UK HIV prevention, but experts explained that inequality and stigma, as well as a lack of resources, were still hurdles to overcome in order to meet Hancock’s aim.