A collaboration between the website MASC. and HIV activist group ACT UP Dublin, the campaign features people in Ireland who are living with HIV sharing positive messages about the health and prevention benefits of treatment. 

Using the phrase Undetectable = Untransmittable (often shortened to U=U or #UequalsU) the campaign is part of an international effort to promote awareness of the fact that effective HIV treatment is also effective HIV prevention.

Quotes from ACT UP Dublin members Tonie Walsh and Robbie Lawlor in the ads highlight the personal impact of U=U, and the positive, bright colour scheme aims to challenge gloomy and outdated ideas about living with HIV. The ads will run over the next four weeks at a variety of locations in Dublin and Cork including gyms, bars, and key on-street screens.

Look for new #UequalsU ads on Micromedia video screens in Dublin & Cork over the next few weeks!@mascdotlife pic.twitter.com/6ohCsM0FCM

— ACT UP Dublin (@ActUpDublin) May 17, 2019

Eithne MacSweeney from Micromedia said: “We are very excited to be working with ACT UP Dublin on the Undetectable = Untransmittable campaign. In using our public platform, we hope to assist ACT UP in sharing scientific facts and removing the stigma surrounding HIV today.

“It’s very rewarding to be able to use our screen network to help circulate this incredibly important information and create a shift in the language and imagery we use around HIV, its treatment and those living with it. We are also thrilled to be the media providers for the first ever digital outdoor campaign for U=U in Ireland!”

You can’t pass on #HIV if your #viralload is #undetectable. It is imperative that this #UequalsU message is supported politically, and promoted nationally. We must combat #stigma and prevent the #discrimination of people living with HIV in #Ireland. #5Asks https://t.co/TxZRgGgYfR pic.twitter.com/tOXn8SUhAg

— HIV Ireland (@HIVIreland) May 17, 2019

The launch of the new phase of the campaign comes on the heels of the publication of the results of the PARTNER 2 study at the beginning of May.

That study confirmed the results of previous studies and real-world experience—that there is no risk of sexual transmission of HIV with an undetectable viral load—and concluded: “Our findings support the message of the U=U (undetectable equals untransmittable) campaign, and the benefits of early testing and treatment for HIV.”

The U=U message has been endorsed by hundreds of community organisations, medical bodies and health authorities including UNAIDS, the US Centers for Disease Control, and the NHS. The HSE says, “If you are taking HIV treatment correctly, achieve and maintain an undetectable viral load, there is effectively no risk of passing HIV onto others.”