Questions and Answers about HIV/AIDS

Questions and Answers about HIV/AIDS

Table of Contents

Part I: Questions and Answers for Young People and Students . . . . . 1 1. What is the history of HIV/AIDS? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2. What is the difference between HIV and AIDS? . . . . . . . . . . .2 3. What should I know about HIV prevention and sex? . . . . . . . . 3 4. What should I know about HIV prevention and substance use? . .4 5. If I need to write a school report about HIV /AIDS, where can I find information and statistics? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 6. What is the New York State Youth Sexual Health Plan? . . . . . . .5 7. How can I get involved in helping others and being a leader? . . .5 8. Will we ever see an end to the HIV/ AIDS epidemic? . . . . . . . .5

Part II: Questions and Answers About HIV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 Transmission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

1. How is HIV transmitted? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 2. What are the ways that HIV cannot be transmitted? . . . . . . . . .8 3. Can a woman living with HIV pass the virus on to her baby? . . . .8 4. What does Undetectable = Untransmittable

(otherwise known as U=U) mean? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 Prevention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

5. What can a person do to avoid getting HIV through sexual behavior? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

6. How can a person get condoms to prevent HIV? . . . . . . . . . 10 7. What can a person do to avoid HIV through drug use? . . . . . . 11 8. How can a person who injects drugs or other substances

obtain sterile injection equipment? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 9. What can people who are living with HIV do to avoid passing

the virus to others? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 10.What can I do if I think I was exposed to HIV? . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 11. Why is HIV testing important? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 12.How does HIV testing work? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 13. Where can I get an HIV test? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 14. How often should a person be tested? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 15.What does it mean to have a negative test result? . . . . . . . . 14 16.What does it mean to have a test that results in an

HIV diagnosis? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Importance of Health Care and Treatment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 17. How does HIV affect a person's health? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 18.What is the treatment for HIV? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 19. How can a person get help paying for HIV treatment? . . . . . . 17 20.How can I tell if my HIV treatment is working? . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Human Rights, Stigma and Confidentiality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 21.Are there laws in New York State that protect the confidentiality and human rights of people living with HIV? . . . 18 22.What can we do to reduce stigma against people living with HIV? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Part I: Questions and Answers for Young People and Students

There are many reasons for a young person to want information about HIV. Maybe you have a school project to complete, or maybe a friend or family member has been affected by HIV. Maybe you realize it's important to know about HIV because you are responsible for your own health and sexual health. Whatever your reason for wanting to know more about HIV, this document is a good starting place.

1. What is the history of HIV/AIDS?

1981 ? 1985

In 1981, an unknown illness that affected gay men was reported in hospitals in Los Angeles and New York City. The illness was first called GRID (Gay-Related Immune Deficiency) and many people were dying from it. Soon the name was changed to AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome). In the very early years, there were a lot of negative feelings (stigma) around AIDS because people were afraid of it. It was a deadly illness and people did not understand how it was passed from person to person. When many people get sick from an illness in the same area at the same time, it is called an epidemic. This was called the AIDS epidemic.

In 1983, HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) was discovered as the virus that causes AIDS. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that HIV was only passed, or transmitted, through contact with blood, semen and fluids from the vagina. It was also found that HIV could be passed from mother to child during pregnancy or childbirth or by breastfeeding.

In 1983, the New York State Department of Health began supporting programs to educate people about HIV. Programs that support people affected by HIV/AIDS were also made available. In 1985, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first blood test that could tell if a person had HIV. The health department began offering HIV testing.

1986 - 1995

HIV was found in men and women from all walks of life. Many new cases of HIV were happening in people who shared needles to inject drugs. This is because when two people use the same needle, they have contact with each other's blood. By 1990, more than 28,000 people died of AIDSrelated causes in New York State. HIV was one of the top causes of death among men under the age of 45. Treatment was not very effective and the medications had many side effects. In the next five years, from 1990

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