Thirty years in to the epic disease that has swept the world, we are closer than ever to finding more treatments, more medicine, more tolerance, more choices … but never forget that HIV disease is a disease of the least. HIV disease affects, or infects, individuals with the least stable housing, the least nutrition, the least income for medicine, the least opportunity. Remember the facts:
- HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) infects cells of the immune system and destroys or impairs their function, making it hard for the body to fend off infections and diseases.
- AIDS (Acquired immune deficiency syndrome) is the most advanced stages of HIV infection.
- HIV can be transmitted five ways: through unprotected vaginal or anal sex; oral sex with an individual living with HIV; during pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding from mother to baby; sharing needles; or transfusions of contaminated blood.
If you do not have HIV disease, you need to know how to not get it. If you have HIV disease, you need to know how to not spread it. Get tested; know your status. Talk to your children about safe, responsible sex. Wear a condom — EVERY time. Keep up with HIV and AIDS in the media. Exchange health histories.
- AIDS.gov | US Statistics
- World Health Organization | HIV/AIDS
- CDC | HIV Among Young
- The White House | Presidential Proclamation 2013
- UNAIDS | The Joint United Nations Programs on HIV/AIDS
- NIH News | The National Institutes of Health, US Department of Health and Human Services
- POZ | POZ Magazine
- Kids Health dot org | Teen Health – HIV & AIDS
- CDC | Got Questions about how HIV is transmitted?
- The Body | The Complete HIV/AIDS Resource