HIV Treatment as Prevention

photo of ART Treatment for HIV includes anti-retroviral therapy (ART) which is medication people living with HIV take to stay healthy. These medications reduce the amount of virus in the body which keeps the immune system functioning and prevents illness. Another benefit of reducing the amount of virus in the body is that it helps prevent transmission to others through sex, needle sharing, and from mother-to-child during pregnancy and birth. This is sometimes referred to as “ART as prevention” or “treatment as prevention”.

Resources for Consumers

If you are living with HIV, there are resources that will help you understand the importance of treatment for staying healthy, why it protects your partner, and other health issues to consider.

Basic Living with HIV Q&As – learn the basics about treatment, and staying healthy.

HIV Treatment Works – this Act Against AIDS campaign shows how people living with HIV have overcome barriers to get in care and stay on treatment.

Resources for Providers

Prevention IS Care – this Act Against AIDS campaign provides tools for medical care providers to use with those patients who are living with HIV to develop patients’ knowledge about HIV, facilitate open dialogue and information exchange, and strengthen patients’ ability to make healthy choices.