Living with HIV/AIDS

With treatment, many HIV positive people are living longer and healthier lives. HIV is becoming a chronic disease. It's important to find a health care practitioner who knows how to treat the disease as well as a trusted friend, family member or counselor for support. It is important to stay healthy by following a few points:

• Keep your appointments with your health care practitioner and follow their instructions carefully. If your doctor prescribes medicine for you, ensure that you take it exactly as prescribed.
• Get immunisations that prevent infections such as flu and pneumonia.
• Eat healthy food and use safe drinking water.
• Exercise regularly.
• Get enough sleep and rest.

You should also seek counseling that can give you information about care and treatment options. Follow up with HIV testing and counseling for your partner and children, and ask your doctor for advice on safer sex particularly the use of condoms and risk reduction. You should also get screened regularly for other diseases like TB, malaria and other sexually transmitted diseases.

Should you be pregnant, it is vital to get information on the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and advice on infant feeding.

Currently, there is no known cure for eliminating HIV from the body but there are many effective drugs that prevent the development of AIDS. These drugs effectively stop the virus being made in the body and this stops the virus from damaging the immune system – hence the need for continuous use of antiretroviral drugs.

Additional resources

For more information on living with HIV/ AIDS, visit your nearest health practitioner or go to www.unaids.org.