HIV/AIDS
Getting a diagnosis of HIV/AIDS can be deeply upsetting and frightening. Fortunately, with proper medical treatment, you can live a full, healthy life with HIV. In addition to taking medications to manage your condition, you can increase your health and quality of life by practicing good self-care, such as exercising and eating well. Since dealing with HIV/AIDS often takes a toll on your emotional health, it’s also important to reach out to your loved ones or a professional for help and support. However you may feel about your diagnosis of HIV/AIDS, remember that your feelings are valid and that you are not alone.
Globally, 40 million people are infected with AIDS. Approximately 2.1 million of those are under the age of 15. HIV is the world’s leading infectious killer. To date, approximately 25 million people have died of AIDS around the world.
SUPPORTING SOMEONE LIVING WITH HIV
How Can You Help Someone Who Has Been Newly Diagnosed with HIV?
There are many things that you can do to help a friend or loved one who has been recently diagnosed with HIV:
- Talk. Be available to have open, honest conversations about HIV. Follow the lead of the person who is diagnosed with HIV. They may not always want to talk about it, or may not be ready. They may want to connect with you in the same ways they did before being diagnosed. Do things you did together before their diagnosis; talk about things you talked about before their diagnosis. Show them that you see them as the same person and that they are more than their diagnosis.
- Listen. Being diagnosed with HIV is life-changing news. Listen to your loved one and offer your support. Reassure them that HIV is a manageable health condition. There are medicines that can treat HIV and help them stay healthy.
- Learn. Educate yourself about HIV: what it is, how it is transmitted, how it is treated, and how people can stay healthy while living with HIV. Having a solid understanding of HIV is a big step forward in supporting your loved one. This website is a good place to begin to familiarize yourself with HIV. Have these resources available for your newly diagnosed friend if they want them. Knowledge is empowering, but keep in mind that your friend may not want the information right away.
- Encourage treatment. Some people who are recently diagnosed may find it hard to take that first step to HIV treatment. Your support and assistance may be helpful. By getting linked to HIV medical care early, starting treatment with HIV medication (called antiretroviral therapy or ART), adhering to medication, and staying in care, people with HIV can keep the virus under control, and prevent their HIV infection from progressing to AIDS. HIV treatment is recommend for all people with HIV and should be started as soon as possible after diagnosis. Encourage your friend or loved one to see a doctor and start HIV treatment as soon as possible. If they do not have an HIV care provider, you can help them find one.
- Support medication adherence. It is important for people living with HIV to take their HIV medication every day, exactly as prescribed. Ask your loved one what you can do to support them in establishing a medication routine and sticking to it. Also ask what other needs they might have and how you can help them stay healthy.
- Get support. Take care of yourself and get support if you need it. Turn to others for any questions, concerns, or anxieties you may have, so that the person who is diagnosed can focus on taking care of their own health.
If you are the sexual partner of someone who has been diagnosed with HIV, you should also get tested so that you know your own HIV status. If you test negative, talk to your healthcare provider about PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis), taking HIV medicine daily to prevent HIV infection. PrEP is recommended for people at high risk of HIV infection, including those who are in a long-term relationship with a partner who has HIV. If you test positive, get connected to HIV treatment and care as soon as possible.
What If a Friend Tells You That They Have HIV?
If your friend, family member, or co-worker has been HIV-positive for some time and has just told you, here’s how you can be supportive:
- Acknowledge. If someone has disclosed their HIV status to you, thank them for trusting you with their private health information.
- Ask. If appropriate, ask if there’s anything that you can do to help them. One reason they may have chosen to disclose their status to you is that they need an ally or advocate, or they may need help with a particular issue or challenge. Some people are public with this information; other people keep it very private. Ask whether other people know this information, and how private they are about their HIV status.
- Reassure. Let the person know, through your words or actions, that their HIV status does not change your relationship and that you will keep this information private if they want you to.
- Learn. Educate yourself about HIV. Today, lots of people living with HIV are on ART and have the virus under control. Others are at different stages of treatment and care. Don’t make assumptions and look to your friend for guidance.
HIV STIGMA AND DISCRIMINATION
HIV stigma is negative attitudes and beliefs about people with HIV. It is the prejudice that comes with labeling an individual as part of a group that is believed to be socially unacceptable.
Here are a few examples:
- Believing that only certain groups of people can get HIV
- Making moral judgments about people who take steps to prevent HIV transmission
- Feeling that people deserve to get HIV because of their choices
While stigma refers to an attitude or belief, discrimination is the behaviors that result from those attitudes or beliefs. HIV discrimination is the act of treating people living with HIV differently than those without HIV.
Here are a few examples:
- A health care professional refusing to provide care or services to a person living with HIV
- Refusing casual contact with someone living with HIV
- Socially isolating a member of a community because they are HIV positive
- Referring to people as HIVers or Positives
HIV stigma and discrimination affect the emotional well-being and mental health of people living with HIV. People living with HIV often internalize the stigma they experience and begin to develop a negative self-image. They may fear they will be discriminated against or judged negatively if their HIV status is revealed.
“Internalized stigma” or “self-stigma” happens when a person takes in the negative ideas and stereotypes about people living with HIV and start to apply them to themselves. HIV internalized stigma can lead to feelings of shame, fear of disclosure, isolation, and despair. These feelings can keep people from getting tested and treated for HIV.
HIV stigma is rooted in a fear of HIV. Many of our ideas about HIV come from the HIV images that first appeared in the early 1980s. There are still misconceptions about how HIV is transmitted and what it means to live with HIV today.
The lack of information and awareness combined with outdated beliefs lead people to fear getting HIV. Additionally, many people think of HIV as a disease that only certain groups get. This leads to negative value judgments about people who are living with HIV.
FACTS ABOUT HIV/AIDS
HIV/AIDS remains a global health crisis, and advocacy and action are crucial to make sure people everywhere have access to medical care for HIV/AIDS. Ensuring that we each do our part to fight this global crisis is crucial.
- HIV and AIDS are different
HIV is a virus that can lead to AIDS. HIV impacts an individual’s immune system and causes it to deteriorate. HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus. AIDS is a condition that can result from HIV if it is not treated. AIDS stands for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, and it “develops when HIV has caused serious damage to the immune system.”
- Although there is no cure for HIV, it is possible to live with it
As of today, there is no cure for HIV. But the disease can be managed with the right and proper medical care and treatment.
HIV can be managed through treatments that are made up of “a combination of three or more antiretroviral (ARV) drugs.” Those who undergo antiretroviral therapy (ART) are not cured of HIV, but ART can help strengthen an individual’s immune system and ability to fight off infections. Thankfully, 28.7 million people have access to these life-saving treatments.
- Origins of the disease trace back to the late 1800s
Studies have shown that the first origins of HIV can be traced as far back as the late 1800s and could be related to the “simian immunodeficiency virus” that is found in chimpanzees.
- Symptoms and signs can vary
Depending on the stage of infection, the signs and symptoms of HIV can vary. At first, the body might experience an “influenza-like” illness, or no symptoms at all. This usually occurs during the first few weeks after the initial infection. But as the infection progresses and the immune system weakens, symptoms such as weight loss, fever, diarrhoea, cough, and swollen lymph nodes can occur.
- Transmission varies
Transmission of HIV can happen in a number of ways. It can move between people through the exchange of bodily fluids such as blood, breast milk, and more. Beyond that, it can also be transmitted between a mother and child during pregnancy and through childbirth, through blood transfusions, through intercourse, or through the sharing of contaminated needles.
- Around 38.4 million people were living with HIV as of 2021
UNAIDS estimated that around 38.4 million people were living with HIV at the end of 2021. Approximately two-thirds of people living with HIV, or 25.8 million people, are in Africa. There is still significant work needed to tackle HIV/AIDS. In 2021, 650,000 people died from HIV-related causes.
- No one is immune to HIV/AIDS
There is a stigma that HIV/AIDS only affects certain groups. But HIV/AIDS can affect anyone. While it might be more prevalent in certain parts of the world and certain groups are more at risk, HIV/AIDS, like other diseases, knows no boundaries. It can impact people regardless of where they’re from or what communities they are a part of.
- Global crises are threatening progress in the fight against HIV/AIDS
There has been major progress in the fight against HIV/AIDS over the past two decades, but the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting that progress. In 2021, 1.5 million people became newly infected with HIV. This was partly due to COVID-19, which interrupted testing and treatment, and the lingering impacts of other global crises. Learn more about the current state of the fight against HIV/AIDS.
