Undetectable: A critique on the gatekeepers that have stopped the world from becoming HIV/AIDS free
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The TELUS Original documentary, Undetectable looks at the early history of HIV/AIDS in North America, the roadblocks along the way and critiques the gatekeepers that have stopped the world from becoming HIV/AIDS free. It also includes a sharp analysis of the hysteria, misinformation and stigma that has surrounded HIV since it was identified—and initially associated with gay men—in the early 80s. Host James Watson sits down with director and producer Laura O’Grady, and cast members Tiko Kerr, Mark Randall and Dr. Julio Montaner, to discuss the film and what’s preventing the U=U message from being heard far and wide.
Our episode guests
Laura O'Grady
Producer/Director
Laura O’Grady has produced, coordinated, written and directed hundreds of hours of content. She has received many Canadian Screen Award nominations, provincial awards and has had two films debut at the Hot Docs Film Festival. 2021 marks the release of Undetectable, a project three years in the making.
Test the waters or dive in deep? Test the waters
Calling or texting? Texting
Loose guidelines or clear directions? Loose guidelines
See the future or change the past? Change the past
Arrive early or arrive late? Arrive early
Tiko Kerr
Visual artist and community advocate
Tiko Kerr’s artistic practice explores painting, collage, murals, performance and set design. In 2005 he led a public fight against Health Canada for access to two life-saving experimental antiretrovirals. Kerr joined the Undetectable team in 2019 as Art Director, contributing style frames, composites, original pieces and overall visual direction to further the film’s animation sequences.
Test the waters or dive in deep? Dive in deep
Calling or texting? Texting, then calling
Loose guidelines or clear directions? Loose guidelines
See the future or change the past? Change the future
Arrive early or arrive late? Arrive early
Mark Randall
Person living with HIV, HIV advocate, activist and educator
Mark Randall joined the HIV Community Link’s Prevention and Engagement Team in 2010 as the HEAT Program Coordinator for men who have sex with men. In his role, Randall provides information, capacity building, access to testing and prevention services and harm reduction resources in a nonjudgmental way. Living with his HIV-negative husband of 22 years, Randall encourages open conversation with friends, colleagues and the community about sero-discordant relationships, and the science of undetectable equals untransmittable (U=U).
Test the waters or dive in deep? Test the waters
Calling or texting? Calling
Loose guidelines or clear directions? Clear directions
See the future or change the past? See the future
Arrive early or arrive late? Arrive on time
Dr. Julio Montaner
BC-CfE Executive Director and Physician-in-Chief
Dr. Montaner played a key role in establishing the efficacy of NNRTI based highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), which emerged as the new global Standard of Care. He then focused his attention to HAART access to hard to reach populations, including injection drug users, and the treatment of multiple drug resistant HIV infection with great success. Since the late 90’s he also pioneered the concept of Treatment as Prevention® (TasP® ) and was the first to advocate for the expansion of HAART coverage to curb the impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, in terms of decreasing progression to AIDS and death, as well as decreasing HIV transmission.
Test the waters of dive in deep? A bit of both
Calling or texting? Calling, but texting in my professional life.
Loose guidelines or clear directions? Clear directions
See the future or change the past? See the future
Arrive early or arrive late? Arrive on time
This month on pozcast, we have released a special episode on World AIDS Day to take stock of what we have achieved with regard to the national and global response to HIV, and what we still must achieve.
Undetectable=Untransmittable and Treatment as Prevention—both medical discoveries of the 21st century—could effectively stop the global AIDS epidemic. So why haven’t they?
This should be an AIDS-free world...we could decrease the burden of HIV/AIDS globally by greater than 90% during our lifetime, with nothing much more than we already have. And we're not going to do this, because we don't want to. —Dr. Julio Montaner
In this episode, host James Watson sits down with the director and some of the key cast members from the film, Undectectable—screening for the first time this December 1st—to discuss the film and unpack the issues.
Did you know?
According to outcomes from the People Living with HIV Stigma Index, surprisingly only 48% of people who participated in the study in Alberta claimed that they were aware of the evidence behind U=U. Even more troubling, only half of participants believed it!
In Ontario, only 35%of participants had discussed U=U with their healthcare provider and over one quarter of participants had never heard of U=U at all.
Fortunately, over half of people living with HIV in Quebec that participated in the Indice destigmatisation des personnes vivant avec le VIH au Québec indicated that U=U has positively impacted their life, with almost all agreeing that its powerful, science-grounded message had the power to reduce stigma.
Check out the Undetectable film page on The Positive Effect for more information about the film, U=U and TasP.
