On this HIV awareness and condom use awareness month, we get to explore the different ways of preventing the transmission of the disease.
Mosty, HIV is got through anal or vaginal sex, sharing needles, syringes, or other drug injection equipment. This basically implies contact with semen, vaginal fluid, or blood.
HIV transmission can be prevenyed via the following:
1. Don't have sex
Not having sex (being abstinent) is a 100% effective way to make sure you won't get HIV through sex.
Not having sex also prevents other STIs and pregnancy.
2. Get tested and treated for other STIs
If you have another STI, you are more likely to get HIV.
Many people with an STI may not know they have one because they don't have symptoms.
3. Use condoms the right way every time you have sex
Most condoms are highly effective in preventing HIV and other STIs, like gonorrhea and chlamydia.
Condoms are less effective at preventing STIs that can be transmitted through sores or cuts, like genital herpes and syphilis.
4. Take PrEP
PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) is medicine people take to prevent getting HIV.
PrEP is highly effective for preventing HIV from sex and injection drug use when taken as prescribed.
5. Ask about PEP if you think you may have recently been exposed to HIV
PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis) is medicine people take to prevent HIV after a possible exposure.
If you think you may have been exposed to HIV in the last 72 hours, talk to your health care provider, an emergency room doctor, or an urgent care provider right away about PEP.
6. If you or your partner has HIV, get and stay in treatment
This is the most important thing people with HIV can do to stay healthy.
People with HIV who take HIV medicine and get and keep an undetectable viral load will not transmit HIV to their sex partners.
7. If you are pregnant, get tested for HIV as soon as possible to prevent transmitting HIV to your baby
If your test result is negative and you or your partner engage in behaviors that increase your chances of getting or transmitting HIV, get tested again in your third trimester.
If your test result is positive, you can reduce the chances of transmitting HIV to your baby by taking HIV medicine as prescribed throughout pregnancy, labor, and delivery, getting and keeping a suppressed viral load, and giving HIV preventive medicine to your baby after giving birth.
8. If you inject drugs, never share needles, syringes, or other drug injection equipment
Use new, clean syringes and injection equipment every time you inject.
You can get new needles and syringes and safely dispose of used at syringes.
If you do share syringes, use bleach to clean them. A disinfected syringe is not as good as a new, sterile syringe, but it can greatly reduce your chances for HIV and viral hepatitis.
9. Don't inject drugs
Not injecting drugs is a 100% effective way to make sure you won’t get HIV through injection drug use.
Talk with a counselor, doctor, or other health care provider about treatment for substance use disorder, including medication-assisted treatment.
10. Talk to your health care provider about male circumcision
Male circumcision may decrease the chance of HIV transmission in some situations, but less than some other prevention options.
