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As the world’s largest HIV conference opens in Rio de Janeiro this Sunday, stigma remains a persistent barrier to ending the epidemic. While modern medicine allows people with HIV to live long, healthy lives, cultural narratives like the Netflix drama The Polygamist often reinforce the fear and misinformation that keep people from seeking care.

The conference will host 10,000 researchers, health workers, and activists discussing how to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. A central theme will be the gap between medical capability and the social realities of shame and silence.

A Misleading Narrative

Thabani Nyoni, an assistant professor at Dalhousie University, argues that the Netflix series misrepresents the reality of HIV treatment. The show focuses on Jonasi Gomora, a wealthy businessman who contracts HIV, hides his diagnosis, refuses treatment, and eventually dies.

Nyoni notes that while the show frames the virus as the villain, the actual cause of death was denial and shame. The narrative suggests that a person on treatment remains dangerously infectious, a claim that contradicts established medical science.

This distinction matters largely because misinformation feeds a specific type of fear that prevents testing. If audiences believe treatment is futile or that the virus is always a death sentence, they are less likely to know their status.

The Reality of Treatment

Today, HIV is a manageable condition rather than a fatal one for those with access to care. Antiretroviral therapy (ART) can reduce the amount of virus in the body to undetectable levels.

Scientists refer to this as “undetectable equals untransmittable.” This means a person with an undetectable viral load cannot pass the virus to a sexual partner. The tragedy of fictional characters like Jonasi is not the infection itself, but the refusal of the medicine that would have allowed him to live and protect others.

Media portrayals frequently gravitate toward the tragedy of infection because it offers a dramatic arc, but this focus inadvertently punishes those who seek care by associating the virus solely with death and moral failure. When a story ignores decades of medical progress to preserve a plot point about secrecy, it does more than entertain; it validates the isolation that public health workers are trying to dismantle.

Targets and Gaps

The United Nations established the 95-95-95 targets for countries like South Africa to be met by 2025, though few achieved them. The goals are for 95% of people with HIV to know their status, 95% of those diagnosed to be on treatment, and 95% of those on treatment to be virally suppressed.

South Africa currently stands at 96-79-94. The drop in the second figure indicates that only 79% of people diagnosed are actually taking medication. This data highlights the difficulty in moving from diagnosis to consistent treatment.

It is a problem across the continent that makes accurate representation in media even more critical.

Gender and Silence

Men across Africa are particularly slow to take up treatment. They often test later and die at higher rates, partly due to cultural beliefs that equate illness with weakness.

A 2025 study published in Frontiers in Public Health found that stigma among young people in KwaZulu-Natal was directly linked to lower self-worth and higher rates of depression. Stigma is not merely a social side-note; it is a direct injury to mental health that drives people away from clinics.

Research also points to a gendered power dynamic regarding HIV prevention. In a study of immigrants in Canada, women reported being unable to suggest protection without it being viewed as an accusation of cheating. Men often cited their own preferences for avoiding condoms, leaving women with little agency to protect themselves without risking conflict.

Support Over Judgment

Effective messaging relies on trust rather than fear. Reviews of programs across sub-Saharan Africa show that non-judgmental care is essential for keeping patients engaged. When clinics feel judgmental, people delay or avoid care entirely.

Community support systems have proven effective. When people living with HIV have a treatment supporter—whether a partner, friend, or community health worker—they are more likely to take their medication. This suggests that the solution to the epidemic lies not just in pills, but in the social networks that surround patients.