Many people living with HIV do not start, stay on or get back on antiretroviral treatment (ART), the lifesaving once-daily medication that keeps the virus level so low in their bodies that it becomes undetectable. This treatment keeps them alive and allows them to live virtually “normal” lives. But many people still don’t take their medication regularly because after taking treatment for a while, they feel well and forget to keep taking the medication.

This in turn means that a story of death in both Zimbabwe and Malawi persists. A social death. A death of past lives and freedoms.

The campaign’s objective is to bring to life the emotional benefits of ART in a way that makes it so appealing and aspirational that PLHIV won’t ever want to miss a day of treatment again.

The success of the I Can campaign hinged on effectively communicating that virally suppressed PLHIV do not transmit the virus through sex. However, barriers existed: lack of consensus among policymakers, discomfort among healthcare providers in delivering the message, limited access to viral load testing, and concerns about behavioural consequences hindered clear communication.

At the end of the campaign we had 9 million impressions, with 1.5 million people in Zimbabwe and Malawi reached.