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# Boris Johnson condemned for confusing AIDS with HIV
- URL: https://www.scenemag.co.uk/boris-johnson-condemned-for-confusing-aids-with-hiv/
- Published: 2021-10-20T11:12:29.000Z
- Updated: 2021-10-20T09:41:55.000Z
- Description: Prime minister Boris Johnson has come under fire for confusing AIDS with HIV for the second time this year.
- Author: Rachel Badham
- Tags: Health, HIV, News, Politics, AIDS, Boris Johnson, COVID-19, Covid-19 vaccinations, LGBTQ, National AIDS Trust

Prime minister Boris Johnson has come under fire for confusing AIDS with HIV for the second time this year in a speech cited by [*The Telegraph*](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2021/10/19/politics-latest-news-boris-johnson-news-gas-boilers-heat-pumps/?ref=scenemag.co.uk). When reflecting on *“the sheer improbability of what humanity has achieved in the last 18 months”*, Johnson said: *“We still don’t have a vaccine for AIDS…But within a year the appearance of Covid-19…we have forged an entirely new set of armour for our species.”*

Many LGBTQ+ activists and advocacy organisations pointed out that AIDS is a term used to describe a condition that occurs when HIV is left untreated, rather than being the virus itself. Johnson made similar comments in [April](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/johnson-slammed-for-comments-on-aids/) when he said that he was ‘amazed’ so many vaccines had been produced in a short space of time, adding: *“But I never thought we would get so many workable vaccines in such a short order when you consider…we haven’t got vaccines against SARS or AIDS or whatever.”*

The National AIDS Trust’s [reporting guidelines](https://www.nat.org.uk/sites/default/files/publications/NAT%5Freporting%5FHIV%20%283%29.pdf?ref=scenemag.co.uk) state that mixing up HIV with AIDS is *“medically inaccurate”* and creates *“unhelpful confusion between the two”*. Johnson has yet to respond to criticism over his comments.

![](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/hiv-awareness-1.jpg)