Irish Aids Day 2026 – HSE Health and Wellbeing

Monday 15^th June was Irish AIDS Day. To mark this, the Poz Vibe Tribe, together with the HSE, is urging people to always be Ready to Talk and Ready to Listen to the stories of loss around HIV and AIDS that may have gone untold because of stigma or shame.

This message aims to build on the positive impact of the HSE’s You, Me & HIV campaign. Launched last year, the campaign has seen a notable decline in discriminatory attitudes towards people living with HIV – from 54% in November 2024 to 49% at the end of 2025. More people reported feeling comfortable with family, friends, neighbours, and colleagues living with HIV – a continuing positive trend.

HIV Fact Check

HIV, regardless of whether or not a person is on treatment:

is not passed on from kissing,
from using the same cups, plates, forks or toilet seats, and
you can’t get HIV from shaking someone’s hand or giving them a hug.

People on effective treatment cannot pass HIV to sexual partners. When a person living with HIV is on effective treatment, the viral load is so low that it is not detected in their blood. This is often referred to as ‘undetectable’ equals ‘untransmittable’ (U=U).

People living with HIV on effective treatment can have healthy pregnancies and go on to deliver healthy babies without passing on the virus. Effective treatment in pregnancy prevents infection in babies. HIV is not a reason to avoid pregnancy.

HIV and AIDS are not the same thing. HIV is a virus that attacks the human immune system weakens its ability to fight infection and disease. AIDS describes the group of illnesses that you can get in the late stage of HIV infection. Most people with HIV will not develop AIDS-related illnesses because of the advancements in treatments.

With effective treatment, those living with HIV can go on to live a long, and healthy life.

HIV Fact Check

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