What is HIV?:
HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus. It is a virus that damages the cells in a person’s immune system and weakens the body’s ability to fight everyday infections and disease.
What is AIDS?:
AIDS stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. It is the name given to describe potentially life-threatening infections and illnesses that happen when a person’s immune system has been severely damaged by HIV.
How do you get HIV?:
HIV is a virus which can be passed on from one person to another through specific bodily fluids:
- blood
- semen (‘cum’) and pre-seminal fluid ('pre-cum')
- anal fluids
- vaginal fluids
- breastmilk.
You can only get HIV if one of these fluids from someone with the virus enters your body. The main ways HIV is passed on are:
- sex without a condom
- sharing injecting equipment
- passed from mother-to-baby during pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding
- contaminated blood transfusions and organ/tissue transplants.
Attitudes to HIV:
What people think and feel about HIV is influenced by a broad range of factors, including fear of transmission, preconceptions about lifestyle, and judgements about how HIV is acquired.
Intersecting prejudices toward groups who are disproportionately affected by HIV (e.g. racism and homophobia) also have a negative impact. Unfavourable attitudes towards people living with HIV are referred to as stigma. HIV stigma can take different shapes and forms depending on the community and cultural setting.
Preconceptions can also act as a barrier to testing and diagnosis if people are afraid of being stigmatised or if people are not offered testing because they do not fit the stereotype.
