Our Mission

Led by the State of Maryland and the Baltimore City Health Department in conjunction with its partners, the U=U Maryland Campaign aims to eliminate the stigma of living with HIV through education, empowerment, and engagement.

Baltimore Community  Consensus Statement

U = U means that a person with an undetectable HIV viral load who is taking HIV treatment medications as prescribed cannot transmit HIV to a sexual partner. In addition to HIV testing, and using pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and condoms, U=U or Undetectable equals Untransmittable is another important strategy that adds to sound approaches for helping to achieve zero new HIV infections and reduce stigma for people living with HIV.

It is important that people living with HIV, their sexual partners, healthcare providers and the criminal justice system have accurate information that having an undetectable viral load makes the virus incapable of transmission and that viral load suppression is the goal for all people living with HIV. We stand with leading researchers who have examined this as an effective strategy to prevent transmission to HIV-negative sexual partners.¹

We recognize that condoms also help prevent HIV transmission as well as other STIs and pregnancy. Today, a person has several options for HIV prevention, and can select one, two or all of them depending on their sexual practices, location, comfort, circumstances and relationships.

Achieving viral suppression, using condoms, regular screening for STIs, using PrEP – all of these need to be available and accessible to people living with and impacted by HIV. It allows all people regardless of gender across jurisdictions to make the best-informed decision for how to take care of their own physical, sexual, emotional, and mental health and to prevent new infections in Maryland.