“Many people with HIV are in loving, supportive and intimate relationships. And many of these are with a partner who is HIV-negative,” a new page about relationships on the HIV website, namlife.org, proclaims.

“All relationships go through ups and downs and the presence of HIV in a relationship can exaggerate the routine stresses,” namlife.org advises.

“This section provides information on some of the more common problems that arise in relationships where one partner is HIV-positive and the other HIV-negative.”

This section on relationships goes way beyond traditional “Agony Aunt” columns since readers share their personal experiences on namlife.org, an award-winning organisation based in the UK.

Research in African countries has shown about one out of five relationships in Zambia and one out of eight relationships in Rwanda are between serodiscordant couples (one partner HIV positive, one partner HIV negative).

Dr Eric Hunter is driving the research to find out how HIV is transmitted from one partner to the other.