People living with HIV in Australia who choose not to take antiretrovirals (ARVs) feel pressure to go on treatment, aidsmap reports. Publishing their findings in Medical Anthropology Quarterly, researchers conducted in-depth, qualitative interviews with 27 HIV-positive Australians who were not on ARVs at the time; the interviews were conducted between 2012 and 2014.

Ten of the study participants had never taken ARVs. The remainder had been on HIV treatment for a short period for a particular reason, such as being pregnant. Nineteen of the participants were gay men, four were heterosexual women, three were heterosexual men and one was a bisexual man.

While on the whole participants acknowledged the benefit of HIV treatment, they generally felt they were not prepared to commit to lifelong adherence to a daily regimen. Adherence, they knew, is both vital and challenging, while all medications may cause harm along with good. (Research from the START trial published in 2015, however, shows that early HIV treatment is associated with a net benefit to health.) Considering these misgivings along with the pressure to go on ARVs for the public health benefit—treating HIV vastly lowers the risk of transmitting the virus—the participants often felt hostility from others with regard to their decision to remain off treatment.

To read the aidsmap article, click here.

To read the study abstract, click here.