HIV is not just someone else’s problem – Orlando Sentinel

Let’s be honest: the biggest barrier to ending the HIV epidemic in the United States isn’t science — it’s stigma.

For decades, we have told ourselves a convenient lie about HIV. We’ve framed it as something that happens to other people — poor people, gay men, people living on the margins. We’ve created a narrative that allows the majority to feel safe, distanced and unaffected.

That narrative is not only outdated — it is dangerous.

HIV does not care about your income. It does not care about your race. It does not care about your sexual orientation.

And yet, we continue to treat it as if it does.

This false narrative has created a culture of complacency. When people believe HIV is someone else’s problem, they don’t get tested. They don’t ask about prevention. They don’t consider their own risk. And in that silence, HIV continues to spread — not because we lack the tools to stop it, but because we refuse to see the full picture.

We are not losing the fight against HIV because we don’t know what works.

We are losing because we have chosen comfort over truth.

Yes, certain communities — particularly Black and brown communities and men who have sex with men — are disproportionately impacted. But let’s be clear: that disparity is not about identity. It is about systemic neglect. It is about who has access to health care, who is centered in prevention efforts, and who is left behind.

When we reduce HIV to a stereotype, we do more than misinform — we endanger.

We endanger the heterosexual woman who has never been told she is at risk.

We endanger the young person who was never given comprehensive sexual health education.

We endanger the professional, the parent, the partner — people who do not see themselves reflected in the outdated image of who HIV “affects.”

And we perpetuate a system where shame replaces awareness.

Stigma is not just a social issue — it is a public health crisis. It keeps people from getting tested. It delays diagnosis. It disrupts treatment. It isolates those living with HIV and silences conversations that could save lives.

Meanwhile, science has already moved forward.

We have highly effective prevention tools like PrEP and nPEP. We know that individuals who are virally suppressed cannot transmit HIV — Undetectable equals Untransmittable (U=U). We have everything we need to end the epidemic.

Everything — except an honest narrative.

If we are serious about ending HIV in this country, we must stop talking about it as a disease of “others.” We must normalize testing for everyone. We must expand prevention beyond the communities we’ve historically labeled as “high risk.” And we must dismantle the stigma that continues to dictate who feels seen — and who feels invisible.

Because HIV is not about who you are.

It’s about what we choose to ignore.

The longer we hold onto outdated beliefs, the longer we delay progress. But if we are willing to confront the truth — to challenge our assumptions and rewrite the narrative — we have an opportunity to change the course of this epidemic.

Not someday. Now.

Because the reality is simple, whether we’re comfortable with it or not: HIV can impact anyone.

And until we act like it, we will continue to fail everyone.

Tammy Cuyler is the founder and CEO of Empower HIV Health in Davenport.