People Living With HIV
Smoking rates among persons living with HIV, which is the virus that can cause AIDS, are much higher than among persons without HIV.
- In 2014, among adults with HIV in medical care, 33.6% currently smoked cigarettes.*
- People living with HIV are also less likely to quit smoking than the general population.†
If you have HIV, smoking cigarettes is especially dangerous to your health. If you smoke:
- You’re more likely to develop the harmful consequences of smoking than people without HIV. These illnesses include cancer, heart disease, and stroke.
- You’re more likely to develop HIV-related infections than someone diagnosed with HIV who does not smoke. These illnesses include thrush (a mouth infection) and Pneumocystis pneumonia (a lung infection).
- Among people whose HIV is effectively treated, smoking cigarettes is the main contributor to preventable risk of illness and death.
Learn what percent of people currently smokes cigarettes, both in the United States overall and among specific population groups.
Brian I. overcame tough health problems related to HIV, but nearly lost his life because of smoking cigarettes.
“Smoking is something that you do have control over. You can stop. And it’s worth your life to stop smoking.”
Quit Smoking Medicines
There are 7 quit-smoking medicines approved by the FDA. Explore ways to get free or reduced cost quit-smoking medicines from your health insurance, health plan, or other sources.
* Trends in cigarette smoking among adults with HIV compared with the general adult population, United States – 2009–2014, Preventative Medicine, 2018.
† Behavioral and Clinical Characteristics of Persons Receiving Medical Care for HIV Infection — Medical Monitoring Project, United States, 2009. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 2014.