Tuesday, December 1, 2009

goGIRLs Get Tested- What You Need to Know About HIV/AIDS



goGIRL wants YOU to get tested!! Know your status! There are some things you can tell about a person by just looking at them but HIV/AIDS is not one of them. Protect yourself and practice safe sex!

It is bad enough that people are dying of AIDS, but no one should die of ignorance. ~Elizabeth Taylor

What You Need to Know!!

Where is HIV found?
HIV is found in many body fluids including blood, semen, vaginal fluids and breast milk.

How is HIV transmitted?
HIV is transmitted through:
􀂃 Unprotected penetrative (vaginal or anal) and oral sex with an infected person
􀂃 Blood transfusion with contaminated blood
􀂃 By using contaminated syringes, needles or other sharp instruments
􀂃 From an infected mother to her child during pregnancy, childbirth and
breastfeeding

Can I get HIV from casual contact?
HIV is not transmitted by day-to-day contact in social settings, schools or in the
workplace. You cannot be infected by shaking someone's hand, by hugging someone,
by using the same toilet or drinking from the same glass as an HIV-positive person,
playing sports with or by being exposed to coughing or sneezing by anyone living with
HIV. So you should not be fearful of interacting with persons who are living with the
disease.

How can you limit your risk of getting HIV through sex?
􀂃 Abstain from sex
􀂃 Remain faithful in a relationship with an uninfected equally faithful partner with noother risk behaviour
􀂃 Practice only non-penetrative sex
􀂃 Use male or female condoms correctly each time you have sex

In addition to the above, you can further reduce the risk of HIV infection through sex?

􀂃 Delay the age you begin to have sexual relations
􀂃 Reduce the number of sexual partners you have
􀂃 Get tested and treated for sexually transmitted infections (STIs)
How can you prevent the other ways of HIV transmission?
􀂃 Avoid injecting drugs, or if you choose to inject drugs, always use new and
disposable needles and syringes
􀂃 Ensure that any blood or blood products that you might need are tested for HIV
and that blood safety standards are implemented.

What is 'safer' sex?

No sexual act is 100% safe. Safer sex involves taking precautions that decrease the
potential of transmitting or acquiring STIs, including HIV, through sex. Using condoms correctly every time one has sex is considered ‘safer’ sex.

What causes AIDS?

AIDS is caused by HIV.

HIV is a virus that gradually attacks immune system cells. As HIV progressively damages these cells, the body becomes more vulnerable to infections, which it will have difficulty in fighting off. It is at the point of very advanced HIV infection that a person is said to have AIDS. It can be years before HIV has damaged the immune system enough for AIDS to develop.

What are the symptoms of AIDS?

A person is diagnosed with AIDS when they have developed an AIDS-related condition or symptom, called an opportunistic infection, or an AIDS-related cancer. The infections are called ‘opportunistic’ because they take advantage of the opportunity offered by a weakened immune system.

It is possible for someone to be diagnosed with AIDS even if they have not developed an opportunistic infection. AIDS can be diagnosed when the number of immune system cells (CD4 cells) in the blood of an HIV positive person drops below a certain level.

Is there a cure for AIDS?

Worryingly, many people think there is a 'cure' for AIDS - which makes them feel safer, and perhaps take risks that they otherwise wouldn’t. However, there is still no cure for AIDS. The only way to sta


Statistics About HIV/AIDS

-the leading cause of death for black women (including African American women) aged 25–34 years.
-the 3rd leading cause of death for black women aged 35–44 years
-the 4th leading cause of death for black women aged 45–54 years
-the 4th leading cause of death for Hispanic women aged 35–44 years
-In the USA, African American and Hispanic women account for 80 percent of AIDS cases, even though they represent less than one fourth of all women.
-Women are more likely to get HIV during vaginal sex for several biological reasons.
The lining of the vagina provides a large area, which can be exposed to HIV-infected semen. Semen has higher levels of HIV than vaginal fluids do.
More semen is exchanged during sex than vaginal fluids.
-More than 20 million men, women and children have died from AIDS.
-90 percent of HIV-positive children were infected during birth or breastfeeding
-High-risk heterosexual contact was the source of 80% of these newly diagnosed infections

goGIRL Get Tested! Do you know your status??

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