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What is HIV?
HIV is the human immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS. A member of a group of viruses called retroviruses, HIV infects human cells and uses the energy and nutrients provided by those cells to grow and reproduce.

What is AIDS?
ACQUIRED IMMUNO-DEFICIENCY SYNDROME:

ACQUIRED means you get it from someone else.
IMMUNO-DEFICIENCY means your body cannot defend itself against certain illnesses.
SYNDROME means a collection of symptoms and signs which a doctor may recognize as a disease.
AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) is a disease in which the body's immune system breaks down and is unable to fight off certain infections, known as "opportunistic infections," and other illnesses that take advantage of a weakened immune system.

When a person is infected with HIV, the virus enters the body and lives and multiplies primarily in the white blood cells. These are the immune cells that normally protect us from disease. The hallmark of HIV infection is the progressive loss of a specific type of immune cell called T-helper or CD4 cells. As the virus grows, it damages or kills these and other cells, weakening the immune system and leaving the individual vulnerable to various infections and other illnesses.

How is it passed on?

HIV is usually transmitted through sexual activity. HIV is the most dangerous of all STI's. HIV can be transmitted:

By unprotected anal sex (when the man's penis enters the man's or woman's anus / back passage)
By unprotected vaginal sex (when the man's penis enters the woman's vagina)
By injecting drug users sharing needles
Through infected blood or blood products
From a HIV positive mother to her baby in the womb, during, during birth or breast feeding.
You may be HIV positive and not know it
Your sex or drug partner may be HIV positive and not know it.
You may look and feel healthy
Once the virus is in your body you are infected for the rest of your life and can infect others.

HIV is found in

Men's semen
Breast Milk
Women's vaginal fluids
Blood or blood products

How to reduce the risk of infection.

Always practice safe sex or safer sex. (use a condom)
Always use clean needles ( always go to a reliable practitioner for body piercing, ear-piercing, tattooing or for having acupuncture or electrolysis done) and ideally do not share.
Always treat spillages of blood as if they were infected.

What is safer sex?

When it comes to protection from HIV/AIDS the only truely safe sex is no sex at all.
Any sexual activity where there is no transfer of semen, vaginal fluids or blood is considered safe: for example, hugging, kissing, masturbation.
Any sexual activity, which reduces the risk of these fluids getting into another body is safer than not taking precautions.
Sexual intercourse is safe if neither partner has the virus, shares needles or has unsafe sex outside that relationship.

Can I get HIV from oral sex?

Oral sex (mouth or tongue genitals) may be less risky than anal or vaginal sex, but not entirely safe. The risk increases if there are cuts or sores on the vagina, penis, mouth or throat or if the women are menstruating (having a period).
To make oral sex safer, a condom or dental dam can be used.

What about other sources?

Ordinary everyday contact with a person living with HIV is considered perfectly safe.
There is a possible risk from sharing toothbrushes and razors. It is therefore advisable not to share them with others.
You can not get HIV from swimming pools, insect bites, sharing cutlery or cups, sharing the same washing or toilet facilities.
There is no risk from giving blood.

Do condoms prevent HIV?

A condom, properly used can help prevent the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.
Condoms are the only protection against HIV for penetrative sex. They do not however offer complete protection.
Check the safety standard symbols and expiry date.
Use water-based lubricants only.
It is advisable to correctly use a condom EVERY TIME you have sexual intercourse.

AIDS Community Research Consortium (ACRC)

AIDS Nutrition Services Alliance - The mission of ANSA is to enhance the quality of life of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWAs) by strengthening the capability of community-based nutrition support programs.

Cable Positive - The cable industry's AIDS action organization.

Children with AIDS Project - An organization whose role is to develop a fuller understanding of children, with, and at risk of AIDS, including the medical, psycho social, legal and financial issues.

Critical Path Project - Critical Path AIDS Project was founded by persons with AIDS (PWAs) to provide treatment, resource, and prevention information.

HIV/AIDS Treatment Information Service - (ATIS) provides information about federally approved treatment guidelines for HIV and AIDS.

HIVnALIVE WebSite by Positively HIV - Extensive resources, including a library

HIVNET Information on HIV and/or AIDS Server

Dr Kate's AIDS Page

The NAMES Project - The mission of the NAMES Project Foundation is to use the AIDS Memorial Quilt to help bring an end to the AIDS epidemic.

National AIDS Fund - The National AIDS Fund is the leading business and pioneering philanthropic response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors

The National Association of People With AIDS - Advocates on behalf of all people living with HIV and AIDS in order to end the pandemic and the human suffering caused by HIV/AIDS.

National Association on HIV Over Fifty - Our mission is to promote the availability of a full range of educational, prevention, service and health care programs for persons over age fifty affected by HIV.

The National Resource Center of the AIDS Education and Training Centers (AETC)

Red Ribbon Net

Rural Prevention Center - The major focus of the Rural Center for the Study and Promotion of HIV/STD prevention is the promotion of HIV/STD prevention in rural America, with the goal of reducing HIV/STD incidence.

Treatment Action Group

Until There's A Cure - A nonprofit organization which raises funds and awareness for AIDS through the sale of The Bracelet.

The Women's Interagency HIV Study - The Women's Interagency HIV Study (WIHS), a multi-center, prospective study, was established in August, 1993 to carry out comprehensive investigations of the impact of HIV infection in women.

Yahoo! - Health:Diseases and Conditions:AIDS/HIV

www.ineed2knownow.com - a provider of HIV self-testing solutions.

Government

AIDS Information Resources

CDC - Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention (DHAP) Home Page

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention

FDA's HIV AIDS Index - HIV Infection and AIDS, OSHI Index of FDA related treatment, testing, fraud, prevention, and clinical trials information

HIV Sequence Database WWW Home Page

National Institute of Health (NIH) HIV/AIDS Information Services - This is the National Library of Medicine's listing of NIH/AIDS-related information contained on internet sites of the NIH, Public Health Service and other federal interagency projects.

U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM)

Regional U. S. A

Alabama

Mobile AIDS Support Services - MASS is the lead AIDS Service Organization in southwest Alabama.

Alaska

Alaskan AIDS Assistance Association - An AIDS service organization serving the Anchorage area.

Arizona

Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation - The Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation (SAAF) serves to create and sustain a healthier community through a compassionate, comprehensive response to HIV/AIDS.

California

AIDS Healthcare Foundation - AIDS Healthcare Foundation is the largest community-based HIV/AIDS medical provider in the nation.

AIDS Project Los Angeles - Founded in 1982, AIDS Project Los Angeles (APLA) is one of the largest AIDS service organizations in the United States.

Being Alive - Being Alive is an organization of and for people with HIV/AIDS.

HIV InSite - Gateway to AIDS Knowledge

San Francisco AIDS Foundation

STOP AIDS PROJECT - A community project for gay and bisexual men in San Francisco which seeks to reduce HIV transmission and lessen the adverse effects of the HIV epidemic on the community.

UCSF-GIVI Center For AIDS Research - The Center for AIDS Research is designed to facilitate the progress of AIDS related research by all interested UCSF investigators.

UCSF Positive Health Program at SFGH MC - The UCSF Positive Health Program provides compassionate health care, caries out groundbreaking clinical research, and develops both community education and health care provider training programs.

Colorado

Boulder County AIDS Project

Colorado AIDS Project - The mission of the Colorado AIDS Project (CAP) is to improve lives affected by HIV/AIDS and to prevent HIV infection.

Connecticut

Delaware

AIDS Delaware

District of Columbia

Capitol Area Vaccine Effort - A volunteer panel of individuals from the general public and from the diverse communities affected by AIDS.

Food & Friends - Food & Friends is a non-profit, community-based organization that provides home-delivered, freshly-prepared meals and groceries, nutritional support services, and companionship to people living with HIV/AIDS.

Florida

Tampa Aids Network - Locations and services offered by Tampa Bay Florida's most comprehensive HIV/AIDS service center. Anonymous Testing!

Georgia

AID Atlanta

AIDS Research Consortium of Atlanta - The AIDS Research Consortium of Atlanta (ARCA) is a non-profit organization working to improve the quality and length of life for people living with HIV.

AIDS Survival Project - We are diverse people living with HIV, united to promote self-empowerment and enhanced quality of life for HIV affected individuals through advocacy, education, peer support, and treatment activism.

Central City AIDS Network, Inc.

Hawaii

LIFE FOUNDATION - Established in 1983 by a handful of concerned individuals with the courage and foresight to face the arrival of the AIDS epidemic in Hawaii.

Maui AIDS Foundation

Idaho

Illinois

The AIDS Legal Council of Chicago

Indiana

The Damien Center

Rural Prevention Center - Joint project of Indiana University and Purdue University for the study and promotion of HIV/STD prevention

Iowa

Kentucky

AIDS Volunteers of Northern Kentucky

Louisville AIDS Walk - Louisville AIDS Walk, founded in 1993, is Kentucky's largest fundraiser for HIV and AIDS.

Maine

Maryland

AIDS Research Information Center

Baltimore City Health Department

Eastern Shore AIDS Foundation

HIV/AIDS Volunteer Enrichment Network (HAVEN)

Anne Arundel County, MD

H.E.R.O.

Johns Hopkins AIDS Service

PWA/HIV Coalition of Baltimore

Massachusetts

AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts - New England's oldest and largest AIDS service organization.

Michigan

AIDS Partnership Michigan - AIDS Partnership Michigan is the state's central resource for information and referral about HIV/AIDS and the largest service provider in Michigan.

HIV-AIDS Services of West Michigan - To provide a collaborative client oriented organization providing supportive services, prevention and advocacy for the HIV affected community.

Michigan HIV News provided by Midwest AIDS Prevention Project

Michigan's Persons Living With HIV-AIDS Task Force

Midwest AIDS Prevention Project (MAPP) - One of Michigan's largest and oldest non-profit, community-based organizations whose mission is the prevention of HIV transmission through AIDS education and safer sex information.

Minnesota

Minnesota AIDS Project

Missouri

The AIDS Foundation of St. Louis

The mission of the AIDS Foundation of St. Louis is to create financial support for local organizations dedicated to providing high-quality direct services and educational programs to all people affected by the growing HIV/AIDS epidemic.

AIDS Walk Kansas City

St Louis Effort for AIDS

Montana

Nebraska

Nebraska AIDS Project - We strive to educate individuals and communities to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS and to provide service and support for people with HIV disease, their families, and their loved ones.

New Hampshire

New Mexico

HIV-AIDS Support in Southern New Mexico (Las Cruces)

New Mexico AIDS InfoNet - The InfoNet was originally designed to make information on HIV/AIDS services and treatments easily accessible in both English and Spanish for residents of New Mexico.

New York

ACT UP/New York - is a diverse, non-partisan group of individuals united in anger and committed to direct action to end the AIDS crisis.

Ohio

AIDS Volunteers of Cincinnati - AVOC provides support services for HIV/AIDS infected individuals, their families, friends, and loved ones.

Akron AIDS Walk

Ohio's Ryan White CARE Programs

Project OpenHand-Columbus - A nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide for the nutritional needs of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWAs).

Symptoms of HIV / AIDS

Oklahoma

RAIN CENTRAL OKLAHOMA HIV/AIDS ONLINE RESOURCE GUIDE

Pennsylvania

ACT UP/Philadelphia

Rhode Island

TB/HIV Research Laboratory - Brown University, Providence

Tennessee

Nashville CARES - Tennessee's leading community-based AIDS service organization. Its mission is to promote and participate in a comprehensive and compassionate response to HIV and AIDS infection through education, advocacy, and supportive services.

Texas

AIDS Foundation Houston, Inc. (AFH)

AIDS Services of Austin - ASA responds to the HIV needs of the Austin area by providing services that enhance the health and well being of individuals and the community in the face of an evolving epidemic.

AIDS Walk Austin 2000

Houston Buyers Club - To Provide Vital Nutritional Supplements At No Profit To People Living With HIV/AIDS.

Utah

People With AIDS Coalition of Utah - Dedicated to providing educational and support services that enhance the quality of life for all people impacted by HIV/AIDS.

Vermont

West Virginia

Wisconsin

AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin - ARCW provides aggressive HIV prevention; training and education; access to comprehensive services for people affected by HIV disease; clinical research on HIV treatment and HIV advocacy through nine offices statewide.

International

AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition - This web site is dedicated to providing up-to-date information and links related to citizen advocacy for HIV vaccines.

Elton John AIDS Foundation - With offices in Los Angeles and London, the Elton John AIDS Foundation is an international non-profit organization funding prevention education programs and direct patient care services worldwide.

Home Drug Testing - The Home Drug Testing Company provides the products for confidential home testing for HIV or the aids virus, drug detection, blood alcohol levels and pregnancy.

International AIDS Society - Official Journal of the International AIDS Society

International AIDS Vaccine Initiative - The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative is a global, non-profit organization working to speed the development and distribution of preventive AIDS vaccines.

International Association of Physicians in AIDS Care

UNAIDS - The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS.

Australia

Australian National Center for HIV Social Research

Brazil

Canada

BC Persons With AIDS Society (BCPWA) - Western Canada's largest AIDS group with over 4000 members.

Finland

Great Britain

AidsOnline - It aims to support and help patients with AIDS and those who are HIV positive help each other.

AVERT Home Page - non-governmental organization that has AIDS information

Hong Kong

AIDS Unit, Department of Health

Netherlands

HIVNET Information on HIV and/or AIDS Server - Welcome to the HIVNET Information Server in Amsterdam.

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