Page:#WorldAIDSDay #ZeroHIV

#WorldAIDSDay #ZeroHIV

Friday 23-11-2018 - 16:59

Glasgow Caledonian University and the Students' Association are joining the campaign to end HIV transmission and stop stigma. #WorldAIDSDay #ZeroHIV

What do you know about HIV/AIDS?

Key messages:

Prevention
Look after your health and protect yourself from unwanted pregnancy, STIs and blood borne viruses such as HIV by using condoms. Condoms will be handed out on campus and are always available free from Advice Centre in the Students Association and at venues throughout the city. Find your nearest one.

Get tested
Get tested if you have never been tested before, have changed sexual partners or have multiple partners.  Free, fast confidential testing available on campus during European Testing Week 2018,  Know your HIV status. To arrange a test for STI’s including HIV at any other time, call the Sandyford on 0141 211 8130. http://www.sandyford.org/sexual-health-information/

U=U (Undetectable = Untransmittable).
A person living with HIV and on treatment can live a long, healthy life. “With 20 years of evidence demonstrating that HIV treatment is highly effective in reducing the transmission of HIV, the evidence is now clear that people living with HIV with an undetectable viral load cannot transmit HIV sexually." Undetectable = Untransmittable

New developments
PrEP (Pre Exposure Prophylaxis) is a combination pill that can be taken by HIV negative people before having sex. PrEP is available from the Sandyford Sexual Health services.
 

Additional information:

HIV: HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus. HIV weakens a person’s immune system, the part of our body that fights off infections. There is no cure or vaccine for HIV. There is treatment available which help people with HIV to keep well and live healthier lives. Someone with HIV taking treatment will now live a near normal lifespan in good health. If untreated, HIV can damage the immune system over time leaving it unable to fight off infections and leading to people becoming very unwell. 

AIDS: AIDS stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.  AIDS is the name used to describe a combination of potentially life-threatening infections and cancers, which can develop when someone’s immune system has been damaged by untreated HIV. You cannot ‘catch’ AIDS and there is no AIDS test.  HIV causes AIDS and it is HIV that can be passed on. Just because someone has been diagnosed with an AIDS-related illness, does not mean they will die.  Thanks to effective HIV treatment, many people who develop AIDS are now very well and can look forward to a long and healthy life.

New HIV diagnosis have fallen but too many people are still diagnosed late and we need to work harder to get zero transmissions (Terrance Higgins Trust)  Terrence Higgins Trust Medical Director, Dr. Michael Brady “Our message is clear. People on effective HIV treatment cannot pass on the virus.  That’s because HIV medication (antiretroviral treatment, or ART) works by reducing the amount of the virus in the blood to ‘undetectable’ levels. This means the levels of HIV are so low that the virus cannot be passed on. This is called having an ‘undetectable viral load’.It can take up to six months for some people to become undetectable from when they start treatment.”

Beyond WAD - NHSGGC: Sandyford Services provides a wide range of sexual health services, support and information. Services are available from the main Sandyford Central building and from a variety of venues around the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde area.  All services are free of charge and are available for everyone living, working or studying in the area www.sandyford.org
 

Categories:

Campaigns, GCU

Related Tags :

World AIDS Day, #ZeroHIV,

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