People living with HIV – Triangle Project

We’re here to help people living with HIV or AIDS take control of their health and wellbeing, whether you’re newly diagnosed or a long-term survivor. Triangle Project offers counselling and psychological support, viral load and CD4 count testing, assistance accessing ARVs, support with treatment adherence and more.

Newly diagnosed

Finding out that you are HIV positive can be an overwhelming, frightening, confusing and lonely experience. But know that you are not alone. Many people and resources are available to support you in this time, including at Triangle Project.

Finding support

Parents, family, friends and partners might be important people to go to for support. However, you might prefer to speak to someone outside your social circle, at least initially. There’s a range of support available, including one-on-one counselling at Triangle Project, where you can talk in a supportive, non-judgemental environment. Talking to a doctor you feel comfortable with and finding out more information about HIV can also help reduce anxiety. If you’re looking for a gay-friendly doctor you can find one here.

Treatment

The good news is that HIV treatment is better than ever. HIV is no longer the death sentence that it once was. With daily medication, you can live a long and healthy life with HIV. Studies have shown that there are real benefits to starting treatment early, the sooner the better. However, beginning treatment is a highly personal decision, and you need to consider whether you are ready to start. Once you have started treatment it is important to take your medication every day. Starting and stopping HIV treatment can allow the virus to develop resistance, which may limit treatment options and effectiveness in the future. HIV treatment is available for free in South Africa.

Undetectable = Untransmittable (U=U)

When you take your ARVs as directed it’s possible to achieve what is known as ‘undetectable’ status. This means that your medication has reduced your viral load (the amount of HIV in your body) to such a low level that a regular HIV test cannot detect it. When you have maintained an undetectable viral load for at least six months, there is zero chance that you can transmit the virus to somebody else. This is known as Treatment as Prevention (TasP), as effective treatment acts as a form of HIV prevention. It is critical that you take your medication every day as directed by your doctor to stay undetectable, and have your viral load checked regularly.

Serodiscordant relationships

A serodiscordant relationship is where one partner is HIV positive, and one partner is HIV negative. It’s completely normal to worry about transmitting HIV to your negative partner; or if you’re negative, worrying about getting HIV from your partner. But you can still have a healthy, enjoyable sex life without fear of transmission.

There are a number of ways that you can prevent transmission of HIV in your relationship. First, make sure the positive partner is taking ARVs. If they maintain a consistently undetectable viral load, there’s no chance that they will transmit the virus to their negative partner. The negative partner can also take pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). PrEP is a particular ARV taken by people who are HIV negative, which prevents them from getting HIV. Finally, there is the good old-fashioned condom. HIV is found in semen, vaginal fluid, anal fluid and blood, so a condom creates a barrier preventing the virus in one person’s fluids getting into the body of another person. With several effective ways to prevent transmission, there’s no reason why HIV needs to get in the way your relationships.