O’Byrne is optimistic the event will help reach some people who have never been tested for HIV before. That is what happened recently during a similar pop-up in Kingston.
“The stigma is probably the biggest issue we encounter with HIV. It stops people from wanting to get tested and isolates people,” said O’Byrne. In the mid-to-late 1990s, HIV treatment consisted of a daily cocktail of pills. Now treatment can consist of an injection every eight weeks.Article contentUNAIDS, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, has set a target that 95 per cent of people with HIV should be diagnosed, receiving treatment and have undetectable levels of HIV in their systems.