By Jake Long, Account Manager, and Rohit Talwar, Senior Strategist at Inizio Evoke
1 in 3 Gen Zs still believe outdated myths about HIV transmission [1], and fewer than half feel confident talking about sexual health [2]. The real epidemic is no longer HIV – instead, it is stigma. If brands and advocates fail to act now, a silent crisis of misinformation, disengagement, and isolation will persist among the generation most positioned to finally consign stigma to history.
A persistent myth shapes how Gen Z interacts with the reality of HIV: that this is a disease firmly located in the past. This is partly because members of Gen Z have never experienced the urgency of the public health crisis that dominated the 1980s and 1990s, and crucially, many appear to live by the idea that HIV is no longer a real threat – just a historical footnote. Medical progress, while lifesaving, has helped foster this sense of distance: daily regimens, long-acting injectables, PrEP, and campaigns like “undetectable = untransmittable” [3] have transformed HIV from a death sentence into a chronic, manageable condition, but research shows us that this success in treatment has also bred dangerous complacency.
This disconnect is particularly stark in a cohort whose values are rooted in social equity. We’ve seen how Gen Z champions bold causes – from climate action to gender equity – but it’s worth noting that HIV rarely breaks through as a relevant issue. The result is that the most diverse and most out LGBTQIA+ generation in both the UK and US is, paradoxically, among the least informed and least engaged on HIV. Recent survey data shows that only around one in three Gen Zs feel knowledgeable about HIV, compared with nearly two in three older Americans [4].
The wider epidemiology reinforces this false sense that HIV is over. In the UK, new HIV diagnoses have fallen by around a third to almost a half since 2015 [5], yet testing rates among under-25s remain stubbornly low [6]. Only a minority of Gen Z say they know someone living with HIV [7], and despite growing awareness, PrEP uptake among young people still lags far behind older age groups [8]. These gaps in contact, testing, and prevention leave stigma unchallenged and allow myths to persist long after they should have disappeared.
A look at recent conversations on social media highlight memes and influencer posts packed with misinformation and outdated fears – such as thinking HIV can be transmitted by sharing cigarettes, or confusing HIV with AIDS [9]. The fact that these myths persist despite (or because of) digital connectivity points to a knowledge crisis that demands urgent attention. Online, stigma finds fresh soil in the vulnerability of Gen Z’s digital lives – debates on Reddit, confessional TikTok posts, and viral memes reveal not only confusion, but real hurt and anxiety about judgement and disclosure. In one widely shared example, a young person with HIV recounts the despair and fear of parents finding out, underscoring how stigma is more isolating – and more invisible – than ever in the algorithm age [10].
Our research across channels repeatedly proves that medical success has led to cultural amnesia. In the absence of sensational crisis or widespread loss, talking about HIV now feels off‑limits – yet people living with HIV still endure stigma quietly. Even as treatments like PrEP, PEP, long‑acting regimens, and “undetectable = untransmittable” campaigns empower a new era, stigma festers in indifference among a community so rooted in activism and wider consciousness. The bitter irony is that while Gen Z wants stigma to feel old‑fashioned, in practice stigma is the legacy that modern medicine has not eradicated.
As much as many may believe that HIV belongs in the past, it is in fact stigma that does.
Given Gen Z’s passion for breaking silence and building equity, this is the moment to prove it – not by erasing HIV from the present, but by ensuring that HIV‑related stigma loses its last refuge. Social media storytelling – whether through the unfiltered voices of young people living with HIV, myth‑busting video content across social media, or “Invisible Burden” campaigns that explore the loneliness epidemic – can help recast this dominant narrative. Gen Z must now finish what medicine started: consigning HIV stigma, not people, to the past.
It is time for us, across healthcare – brands, leaders, and advocates – to move from awareness to direct action. For agencies and brands shaping health narratives, this is not just a public health challenge, it is a creative brief: our role is to make prevention and stigma‑free living visible, relatable, and human again. Let us tackle this and accelerate progress by:
Co‑create with Gen Z: Bring young voices – especially those living with HIV – into campaign development and content creation for real authenticity.
Meet them where they scroll: Partner with credible creators on TikTok, Reddit, and Instagram to normalise conversations about testing, PrEP, and treatment.
Make the invisible visible: Use social‑native storytelling to tackle loneliness, stigma, and misinformation head‑on through formats Gen Z already loves.
Champion progress, not pity: Celebrate empowerment, joy, and “U=U”, showcasing full, thriving lives rather than repeating only risk and tragedy.
Close the knowledge gap: Share current, local stats on testing, PrEP, and prevention in language, visuals, and spaces Gen Z trusts.
Success would mean that stigma, not HIV, belongs in the past. It would mean that Gen Z is not just passively aware – they are actively rewriting what it means to live well with HIV, to support their peers, and to smash stereotypes online and offline. The next era of HIV-related communication will not be won in clinics or classrooms alone, but in the spaces Gen Z already live and share. This is where health brands have the power, and the responsibility, to make stigma finally feel outdated – and at Inizio Evoke, the opportunity is to help lead that change alongside them.
At Inizio Evoke, we partner with health brands to turn progress in HIV medicine into progress in lived experience. If you’re exploring how to engage Gen Z in stigma-free, prevention-led HIV communication, let’s talk.
Interested in hearing more? Connect with us here.
References
[1] - https://www.natap.org/2019/HIV/120519_02.htm#:~:text=more%20than%2030%25%20of%20diagnosed%20Gen%20Z
[2] - https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15546128.2025.2459381
[3] - https://www.aidsmap.com/about-hiv/faq/what-does-undetectable-untransmittable-uu-mean
[4] - https://www.pharmacytimes.com/view/report-gen-z-knows-least-about-hiv-compared-to-older-generations
[5] - https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-hiv-diagnoses-fall-by-a-third-in-the-uk-since-2015
[7] - https://www.natap.org/2019/HIV/120519_02.htm
[8] - https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/hiv.70157
[9] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtbpTyrpkbk
[10] - https://tht.org.uk/news/marlons-tiktok-mission-educate-young-people-about-hiv