Switzerland’s state commission on AIDS claims that patients with the disease that take effective retroviral drugs do not pass on the virus through unprotected sex. The Federal AIDS Commission said in a report that couples, where one partner is HIV positive, do not need to use a condom to prevent transmission as long as retroviral therapy is followed regularly and has suppressed the virus in the blood for at least six months.
However, the report has been criticised by AIDS charities which point out that the research is focused on vaginal sex between heterosexual couples and does not tackle the issue of acquiring a new sexually transmitted disease.
Roger Peabody of the Terrence Higgins Trust AIDS charity said: “We do not feel the scientific evidence is conclusive.”
