Thanks for the link, I’ve sent it out to everyone in the organization.

This is very contentious but the important message, which many in the PLWHA community have known for a long time is that infection risk is directly related to viral load. Medication that effectively suppresses the virus not only improves the health of the person, but significantly reduces their risk of exposing others to the virus, and potentially (as stated in the report) has the possibility of completely eliminating the risk of transmission.

Thank you for your feedback and corrections.

We listed heavy kissing can carry some risk, unless open wounds such as ulcers, cuts or bleeding gum are present in both parties. Although, like you mentioned, there’s too little evidence to show that kissing can transmit. Statistically, it’s not a cause for concern. yet.

Part of the stigma and discrimination surrounding HIV/AIDS stems from the lack of information in the early stages of the epidemic. Now, it’s the direct opposite. It’s the enormous amounts of information that puts people off. So, we tried to keep things simple, easy to digest and tackling the main concerns and mode of transmission in Singapore.

However, as our mission at Action for AIDS is to educate the public, we strive to update ourselves and the various communities we serve with the latest information about HIV/AIDS.
Seeing that we only have so many pairs of hands and eyes in the office, we are not able to keep up with the speed of which things are evolving. However it is great that we have readers, volunteers and members of the public, such as yourself whom have stepped forward to help us.

Would you be able to send us the report by the doctors in Switzerland? We’ll get our research team to pour through it and we’ll update it here or disseminate it if it’s appropriate for our readers. My e-mail is avin.tan@afa.org.sg

Once again, thank you very much for your interest in Livelife and Action for AIDS.

The virus does more than just attack the body’s immune system but that’s enough of a simple explanation for most people.

The details about ways HIV is spread are limited and simplistic. There are many more, for example there is at least one case of transmission via heavy kissing, many cases of transmission through blood transfusion (less common these days due to more stringent testing) etc. As you state later the blood supply for transfusion is “almost totally safe”. You also mentioned later that heavy kissing can carry some risk. So you actually refute your earlier statements about methods of transmission.

Again better to say these are the “main ways” of transmission. Point 1 referring to blood and semen is mention as during unprotected sex with an infected person, of course you should make it clear that blood can transmit the virus in other ways besides sex.

You mention that oil based lubricants can weaken condoms. This is the case with latex condoms. Polyurethane condoms are not affected (such as used in sagami condoms, female condoms etc). These condoms are inherrently stronger than latex condoms, less likely to break and have the added benefit of transmitting body warmth through the material.

Is there a way to diagnose HIV Infection?

You state that a “positive” or “reactive” test means that the person is infected and is infectious to others as well. This is not technically totally correct. It just means the antibodies have been detected, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the virus is present in the blood, semen or other bodily fluids however this is likely in most cases.

For example as confirmed in the Swiss report by the three leading HIV doctors in Switzerland, a person who tests positive, but has maintained an undetectable viral load for at least 6 months with regular anti-viral medication and has no complication STD, is not infectious.

You also state the antibody test is accurate after about 3 months following infection. However it most cases it will show up within 2 weeks, there are rare cases that take longer, even up to 6 months in some unusual cases.