HIV Treatment Works

Originally published by Healthy Black Men

It’s time to expand the HIV/AIDS fight from prevention to more about care, and living well. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently announced it’s first national communication campaign focused exclusively on encouraging treatment and care for people living with HIV.

The HIV Treatment Works campaign encourages people living with HIV to Get in Care, Stay in Care and Live Well. Here is an example.

According to the CDC, to protect your sexual partners, talk about your HIV status and take steps to protect your health and your partners’ health.

The following can reduce your risk of transmitting HIV:

• Use antiretroviral therapy (ART). ART reduces the amount of virus (viral load) in your blood and body fluids. ART can keep you healthy for many years, and greatly reduce your chance of transmitting HIV to sex partners if taken consistently and correctly.
• If you are taking ART, follow your health care provider’s advice. Visit your health care provider regularly and always take your medicine as directed.
• Choose less risky sexual behaviors. Oral sex is much less risky than anal or vaginal sex. Anal sex is the highest-risk sexual activity for HIV transmission. Sexual activities that do not involve the potential exchange of body fluids carry no risk for getting HIV (like touching).
• Use condoms consistently and correctly. When used correctly and consistently, condoms are highly effective in preventing HIV infection. Condoms are also effective at preventing sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) transmitted through body fluids, like gonorrhea, chlamydia, and HIV.
• Condoms provide less protection against STDs spread through skin-to-skin contact like human papilloma virus (HPV which cause genital warts), genital herpes, and syphilis.

The campaign features people living with HIV talking about how sticking with care and treatment helps them stay healthy and protect others. They also discuss some of the obstacles they have experienced getting into HIV care and staying on treatment and how they overcame these obstacles, offering valuable advice to others living with HIV.

Project Inform is a National HIV/AIDS Treatment Info-line offering confidential treatment information. Call 1-800-822-7422 toll free, Monday thru Thursday for more information.

Content for this article provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and AIDS.gov.

HIV Patients Desire More Dialogue with Doctors

HIV patients on antiretroviral therapy are very involved in engaging with their healthcare providers in the management of their HIV a new survey shows. The results were published in the Wall Street Journal and noted that 300 people living with HIV were surveyed online from across the country and 97% said that they are proactive about managing their HIV condition, including drug treatment.

Three out of four participants did say they would like to spend more time discussing their concerns with their doctor – specifically HIV drug treatment and the impact of HIV on their lives. The survey also showed that most respondents were active about managing their HIV, from scheduling doctor appointments to discussing treatment options with their doctor and researching HIV topics.

“The results of this survey are very encouraging, however they underscore the need for more in-depth discussions between people living with HIV and their doctors - not only regarding their treatment regimens, but also how the disease is affecting their lives overall," said Dr. Michael Gottlieb, Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA. "Communication between healthcare providers and patients is the cornerstone of developing and maintaining a successful HIV treatment plan."

Some of the topics patients would like to discuss include: how their current HIV drug treatment regimen is working, other HIV treatment options, health conditions other than HIV and side effects of their current HIV medicine.

People living with HIV and taking antiretroviral medications are encouraged to speak with their doctor about HIV and their concerns. Preparing topics and questions ahead of an appointment and prioritizing those questions can be useful tools to improve communication with your doctor.