Positively You!
A Comprehensive Media Initiative from Maricopa County’s Ryan White Part A Program
When a person with HIV enters medical care quickly, takes their medication as prescribed and becomes virally suppressed, they can live long, healthy lives. When people stay virally suppressed, they cannot pass HIV to their sexual partners. This concept, based on strong scientific evidence, backed by the CDC, and known as Undetectable=Untransmittable (U=U), has broad implications for the self-esteem of individuals by reducing the stigma associated with HIV.
Propelled by a series of interchangeable, affirmative statements and a vibrant color palette, the campaign uses multiple mediums to share the inspiring stories of twelve local young people with HIV. Through video, web, and print materials, the ambassadors describe how they first reacted to their diagnosis and overcame fear and internal stigma to access medical care and support services. Today, our ambassadors are living their best lives thanks to Maricopa County’s Ryan White Program. “To be positively me is to be greater than my diagnosis, to be greater than the stigma,” says Markel, one of the campaign’s most outspoken campaign ambassadors.
