Less than 40% of people in Britain know that those being effectively treated for HIV cannot pass the virus on to partners, a survey has revealed.
Just 30% of people said they are comfortable dating someone with HIV, the YouGov poll found.
The survey, released by the Terrence Higgins Trust, also discovered that only 37% of people feel comfortable kissing a person who has the virus.
Released to mark 40 years since Terrence Higgins died from AIDS – the data involved a total of 2,004 participants who were asked about their knowledge of HIV.
The 37-year-old from Pembrokeshire in Wales became the UK’s first named person to die of an AIDS-related illness on 4 July 1982.
Progress in HIV medication now means people with the virus can live a long, healthy life and 97% of those in the UK who have been diagnosed and are on treatment cannot pass it on, the trust said.
However, it found just 38% of the public knows that people effectively treated for HIV cannot spread it to others, with older people far less likely to believe how much progress has been made.
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“This is an important moment to remember Terry and celebrate all that’s been achieved in the last four decades,” the charity’s chief executive, Ian Green said.
“But it’s horrifying to see the stigma that still remains all these years on.
“I’ve been living with HIV for over 25 years and there’s no risk in hugging or kissing me.
“I know that the treatment I take means I can’t pass on HIV and my husband knows that too.
“I just wish the general public was more up to date on how much HIV has changed since the 1980s.”
People remember ‘out of date’ AIDS awareness advert
In 1987, the government released an AIDS awareness advert, with today’s poll showing that 48% of people remember it.
Three-quarters of 45 to 54-year-olds said they could recall the advert, with that figure rising to 70% in those aged 55 and over.
The charity explained that the advert, which featured the words “it’s a deadly disease with no known cure” against a backdrop of falling tombstones, continues to cast a damaging shadow over the public’s perception of HIV.
“The adverts end by saying ‘don’t die of ignorance’, but now we’re fighting a different kind of ignorance – an ignorance to all the incredible progress that’s been made,” Mr Green added.
“The previously life-saving information in that advert is now completely out of date.”
