As the annual U.S. Conference on HIV/AIDS (USCHA) kicks off in Washington, D.C., this week with a focus on aging with HIV, Gilead Sciences is rolling out a corresponding awareness campaign spotlighting several firsthand stories of long-term treatment.
The “Choose U” initiative recruited more than a dozen individuals with HIV, many of whom have been living with their diagnosis for decades, with an aim of destigmatizing the virus and showing how advances in treatment have “dramatically changed” the outlook for aging with HIV, per Gilead’s launch announcement Thursday.
In a campaign video, several of the participants share their experiences of living with HIV, discussing how they’ve helped educate and inspire others and emphasizing the importance of prioritizing their self-care and wellness so they can live healthy, full lives and continue to help those around them.
“Treatment is bigger than just going to the doctor. It’s a lifestyle,” Kim, who identifies as a “dandelion,” the name for those who acquired HIV at birth or early in life, says in the clip. “It’s having a holistic view and having that power to be able to know that I get to choose what I can do and what’s going to make me a healthier person.”
“Living out loud with my HIV is choosing me. And so, choosing me helps other people that then help themselves,” Morris, one of the campaign’s stars, adds, while another, Marilynn, says, “Choosing me is taking care of myself, allowing myself to take my medication so I live a longer life and I’m here for those special things like my kids’ weddings and being a grandma.”
The participants, who hail from six countries, will also share their stories in individual videos, the first three of which are now available on the campaign website, amid the start of the USCHA event. The rest will be released throughout this year and next, per Gilead.
Elsewhere on the campaign site is information about care options, questions to guide discussions with doctors about treatment and a glossary of terms related to HIV.
In addition to encouraging people with HIV to pursue consistent treatment and mental and physical well-being, the “Choose U” campaign name also refers to the “U=U” movement, denoting how maintaining an undetectable viral load through treatment makes HIV untransmittable.
Gilead noted in the announcement that only two-thirds of the estimated 40 million people around the world living with HIV are currently virally suppressed, indicating the need for greater awareness and education on the topic.
The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS, known as UNAIDS, has set a goal of ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic by 2030, which it aims to reach with efforts to make 95% of people with HIV aware of their status, get 95% on sustained antiretroviral therapy (ART) and ensure 95% of those on ART achieve viral suppression.
Since the 1990s, Gilead has developed a baker’s dozen of HIV medications, spanning preventive therapies and both daily and long-acting treatments, and continues to pursue a cure for the virus.
Most recently, it earned the FDA’s sign-off this summer for Yeztugo, a pre-exposure prophylaxis injection that’s administered just twice a year. At the time, CEO Daniel O’Day said the drug represents “one of the most important scientific breakthroughs of our time and offers a very real opportunity to help end the HIV epidemic.”