Dear U=U community,
With mixed emotions β joy, relief, gratitude, and some fear β Iβm sharing that, after a decade of founding and leading Prevention Access Campaign (PAC), Iβm stepping away from my role at the end of this year to make space for fresh leadership and new voices at PAC and in the U=U movement. Iβve made this decision after much reflection and many discussions with the PAC board and across the U=U community, and it is rooted in love and trust.
Itβs been the most incredible honor, adventure, and joy of my life to work alongside so many of you from such diverse backgrounds across the globe to bring U=U from a vision to a worldwide movement. Iβm in awe of your courage, conviction, and humanity. Though we face different life circumstances and challenges, we are united in our conviction to tell a revolutionary and liberating truth: people living with HIV who are on effective treatment cannot pass on HIV.
Stepping back now is both a personal and strategic decision. While it is difficult and scary to let go of leadership at PAC that has been so integral to my life, Iβm confident itβs the right decision. Personally, I need time and space to reconnect with parts of my life that took a back seat as we built our spectacular U=U movement. Iβm eager to explore new ways I can best serve our world, including continuing to support U=U, without carrying organizational responsibility for PAC. Strategically, PAC and the movement will benefit from fresh leadership and new voices, especially those grounded in communities where U=U still faces significant barriers.
Iβm relieved and grateful to be leaving PAC in a strong position, with new leadership, programs, and partnerships. Iβm full of hope knowing that Dr. Monique Carry, PACβs Director of Strategic Initiatives, will serve as Acting Executive Director on January 1, 2026, and that Ian Green will continue as Interim Chair. Iβve worked closely with Monique while she brilliantly led U=U global activities at the CDC and paved the way for entire countries to integrate U=U into their national strategies, policies, and programs. Ian is the acclaimed former CEO of Terrence Higgins Trust, the largest UK HIV charity and the first organization globally to launch a national U=U campaign in 2016, and he has been a pioneering global U=U leader and trusted adviser to me since then. With remarkable new leadership and partnerships, the launch of U=U University, U=Uβs 10th anniversary at AIDS 2026, and more than 1,000 organizational partners in over 100 countries, PAC is well-positioned for the next chapter of growth and impact.
Iβm so proud of all that weβve accomplished together. When we partnered with researchers nearly ten years ago to create the international consensus statement that confirmed the U=U science and launched the campaign to communicate it, we never anticipated how rapidly and spectacularly the campaign would expand worldwide. You have lifted our world with the promise of U=U β and here are just a few examples from every part of the world: rallying in the streets for truth in Argentina, Cambodia, Cameroon, Guatemala, the Netherlands, Northern Ireland, and Uganda; launching national U=U public health campaigns in Ireland, Italy, Kenya, South Africa, the UK, and Vietnam; changing national HIV strategies and clinical guidelines in Argentina, Brazil, Nigeria, Turkey, and the US; developing U=U programs with Indigenous peoples in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Venezuela; training health professionals in Botswana, China, Japan, United Arab Emirates, and Ukraine; building U=U youth-led campaigns in Kazakhstan, Namibia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Zambia; integrating U=U into the global strategies and funding guidelines of PEPFAR, the Global Fund, WHO, and UNAIDS; and reforming discriminatory laws, policies, and practices globally. And thatβs only a glimpse of the remarkable work! Together, we are redefining what it means to live and love with HIV β transforming lives and accelerating progress toward ending the epidemic.
You are the brave truth-tellers, disrupters, collaborators, and innovators that the HIV movement needs, especially in this time of overlapping crises. Iβm especially moved by those who risked their personal and professional reputations to declare U=U when it was widely opposed, and by those who continue to raise the banner of U=U in regions where silence, doubt, and resistance persist. Keep that courage!
Looking ahead, our unfinished work is to make the promise of U=U a reality for all people living with HIV. U=U is liberation, but that liberation remains out of reach for people without access to treatment and care or who face persistent stigma, misinformation, and doubts about the science. The many benefits of U=U as an advocacy and communications strategy need to be better understood β not only to transform the social, sexual, and reproductive lives of those of us living with HIV, but as a powerful intervention to end the epidemic.
Educating about U=U has a potent impact on prevention and treatment β from reducing HIV stigma and discrimination to increasing HIV testing rates, treatment uptake, adherence, re-engagement in care, and viral suppression. That impact depends on awareness and acceptance, which require that we integrate the message consistently, strategically, and routinely into the fieldβs communicationsβ on multiple platforms and, most importantly, from trusted voices. I hope we seize the opportunity to use U=U more powerfully in our advocacy for health equity by showing that sustained investment in treatment and care that enables all people living with HIV to reach and maintain U=U is the most effective strategy to save our lives and end the epidemic, keeping communities and countries healthier, safer, and stronger. With U=U, everyone wins.
One of the greatest gifts of my life is being connected with this beautiful community and knowing that, together, we have helped millions of people living with HIV experience the hope and liberation of U=U β more love, more intimacy, more families, and more futures without fear.
From the depths of my soul, thank you for inspiring, trusting, and challenging me, and for building this transformational U=U movement together.
With love and gratitude,
Bruce Richman
Founding Executive Director
Prevention Access Campaign
P.S. U=U and people living with HIV will always be integral to my life. Iβm closing a chapter, not closing my heart!
