What is HIV?
HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus. HIV attacks the immune system, gradually making it harder to fight off infections.
What is AIDS?
AIDS is short for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. It occurs when a person's immune system becomes so damaged by HIV that they are vulnerable to illnesses, especially infections and cancers, that wouldn’t normally be a threat. A person is said to have AIDS either when their immune system has dropped to a particularly low level (called having a CD4 count of less than 200) or when they have an 'AIDS defining illness' such as TB, meningitis or pneumonia.
Can you tell if someone has HIV by looking at them?
Many people living with HIV feel healthy and show no outward symptoms of infection. The only reliable way of diagnosing HIV is through a blood test, which will identify the virus itself or the anti-bodies which the body produces to counteract it.
How does a person become infected with HIV?
HIV is carried in certain bodily fluids including semen, blood, breast milk and vaginal fluids and is passed on when these fluids enter the body. Most people become infected through
• Unprotected sex with an infected person
• Using needles or other injecting equipment which have been used by an infected person
• Being born to an infected mother
• Receiving blood or tissue donated by an infected person
HIV cannot be transmitted through intact external skin or through the air. Saliva, sweat and urine do not contain enough of the virus to infect someone.
How many people are living with HIV and AIDS?
According to the UN more than 39 million people are living with HIV and AIDS worldwide, including over 2 million children. The worst affected region is Sub Saharan Africa, where more than 25 million people are living with the virus.
Does everyone with HIV have access to drugs?
In most rich countries HIV treatment is available to anyone who needs it, provided they are a permanent resident. But in poor countries the resources to provide HIV treatment for those who need it are lacking. Around the world, an estimated 4.4 million people urgently need HIV treatment to stay alive, an estimated 80% of the global need. More details on this are included in the section 3, Our campaign.
Why is Africa so heavily affected?
Almost 95% of people with HIV live in poor countries, and almost two thirds in Africa. This is explained in the clear links between HIV and poverty.
In poor countries, not everyone can go to school and learn about HIV. Even when information is available, many people do not have access to clinics and hospitals where they could get tested for sexually transmitted infections like HIV or access condoms.
Also, when people are poor and their income is not secure, the need for money can be a powerful factor in driving people into sex work and other risky behaviour. Equally, poverty and insecurity make people migrate in larger numbers, and those who leave their families to search for work tend to have higher HIV rates.
Sexual inequality, which stops women from choosing when they have sex and how, is also a driving factor, as is conflict. As examples from Rwanda and the Congo have shown, large numbers of people seeking refuge and high levels of violence during war time can lead to high levels of HIV infections.