The goal of HIV treatment is an undetectable HIV viral load. This does not mean that you have been cured of HIV, but that the combination of drugs you are taking has so reduced HIV's ability to reproduce that it can only be detected in very low levels in your blood.

HIV treatment also lowers the amount of virus in other body fluids, including semen and vaginal fluids.

There is a lot of debate about how infectious somebody taking HIV treatment who has an undetectable viral load is to their sexual partners. In early 2008, some senior HIV doctors in Switzerland issued a statement saying that a person taking HIV treatment with an undetectable viral load in their blood should not be considered sexually infectious provided:

• Their viral load had been undetectable for at least six months.
• They did not have a sexually transmitted infection.
• They took their HIV treatment properly.

This was quite a controversial statement and there have been few researchers or doctors prepared to back it publicly. It's also been pointed out that the research supporting the statement was conducted in heterosexual couples, looking at vaginal sex, and that there isn't much evidence about viral load, HIV transmission and anal sex.

There is a consensus, however, that HIV treatment can reduce the risk of HIV being passed on. But some researchers believe that a risk of transmission can still be there even if a person is taking treatment and has a low viral load.

It is highly likely that there will be a lot more discussion focusing on this controversial area. You can find reports on the latest research into viral load and infectiousness in the news section of our website.