HIV information

Because of effective HIV treatment, people with HIV are living longer than ever. This means that people with HIV are now living in residential care, like nursing or care homes.

When you're taking different drugs together, it could change how well they work or the side effects they have. It's important to tell your doctor or pharmacist about all the medications you are taking.

Chronic kidney disease is common in people living with HIV. The two most important causes are diabetes and high blood pressure. In our video, Memory Sachikonye and Susan Cole talk about chronic kidney disease and HIV.

There are a lot of myths about getting older with HIV. In our video, Jo Josh, Jonathan Blake and Memory Sachikonye talk about what ageing with HIV is really like.

People living with HIV have a higher risk of lung cancer and several other cancers compared to people without HIV. Smoking is the biggest risk factor for lung cancer.

Sharing your HIV status is a very personal decision. There are lots of reasons why you may, or may not, decide to share that you're living with HIV.

Where did HIV come from? The most common form came from chimpanzees in central Africa, probably entering the human population between 1890 and 1920 as a result of people hunting chimpanzees.

People living with HIV can give birth to healthy, HIV-negative babies. Most of the advice is the same as it is for people without HIV who are thinking about having a baby. But there are some extra steps needed to reduce the likelihood of HIV being passed on.

Rates of some, but not all, cancers are higher in people living with HIV than HIV-negative people. This is often because of the effects of HIV on the immune system.

Join aidsmap's Susan Cole and 4M Network's Angelina Namiba as they take a walk in nature and talk about the importance of looking after their mental health, and how being outside in green spaces can help emotional wellbeing.

An animation talking about contraception and HIV medication.

An animation on how to take HIV medication.

An animation on side effects that you might experience with HIV medication.

An animation describing how HIV medication works.

Vimbai Mandaza talks to NAM aidsmap's Susan Cole about the importance of testing for HIV in this video we've produced with Africa Advocacy Foundation.

NAM aidsmap's Susan Cole speaks to Dwayne-Wilson Hunt, charge nurse in sexual health & HIV at the John Hunter Sexual Health Clinic; and to Harun Tulunay, sexual health and HIV activist who had mpox in 2022, about how to spot the symptoms of mpox.

Michelle Bockor talks to NAM aidsmap's Susan Cole about the importance of testing for HIV in this video we've produced with Africa Advocacy Foundation.

Mpox vaccination is ending imminently in the UK. You need to get your first dose by 16 June and second dose by 31 July 2023. NAM aidsmap's Susan Cole talks to Dr Michael Brady and José Carlos Mejía Asserias about the importance of getting vaccinated and where you can get it.

NAM aidsmap's Susan Cole speaks to Professor Yvonne Gilleece, Chair of the British HIV Association, as well as Dr Will Nutland and Dr Matthew Page about the mpox (monkeypox) vaccination for people living with HIV.

Silvia Petretti talks to Susan Cole about sexual pleasure for older women with HIV in our video we've produced with the Sophia Forum, Positively UK and UCL Institute for Global Health.

Husseina Hamza talks to Susan Cole about testing for HIV in our Positive Champions video with Africa Advocacy Foundation.

Dr Nneka Nwokolo talks to Susan Cole about the menopause and HIV in our video we've produced with the Sophia Forum, Positively UK and UCL Institute for Global Health.

Dr Matthew Page talks to Susan Cole about testing for HIV in our Positive Champions video with Africa Advocacy Foundation.

Joshua Royal talks to Susan Cole about testing for HIV in our Positive Champions video with Africa Advocacy Foundation.

Starting anti-HIV treatment improves your health, suppresses HIV and helps to strengthen your immune system. But treatment can also cause side effects, including weight gain.

Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a form of HIV prevention. It involves using HIV treatment drugs to prevent HIV-negative people from acquiring HIV.

'Adherence' means taking your HIV medication in the right way, at the right time. Matthew Hodson, Susan Cole and Mercy Shibemba share some things you can do to help you take your medication properly.

Post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) is a way of preventing HIV infection. PEP involves taking a four-week course of the drugs used to treat HIV very soon after possible exposure to the virus.

Being diagnosed and living with HIV might have a big emotional impact on you. It's important to know that it's completely normal to have feelings that you might find difficult.

Dazon Dixon Diallo talks to Susan Cole about gender-based violence in our video we've produced with the Sophia Forum, Positively UK and UCL Institute for Global Health.

Stephen Hart talks to Susan Cole about the importance of testing for HIV in our Positive Champions video with Africa Advocacy Foundation.

Bisi Alimi talks to Susan Cole about testing for HIV in our Positive Champions video with Africa Advocacy Foundation.

Tendai Ndanga talks to Susan Cole about knowing your status in our Positive Champions video with Africa Advocacy Foundation.

LeaSuwanna Griffith talks to Susan Cole about the importance of testing for HIV in this video we've produced with Africa Advocacy Foundation.

Rebecca Mbewe and Estelle Duncan from the 4M Mentor Mothers Network talk to NAM aidsmap's Susan Cole about quality of life when you're living with HIV.

At Pride in London, NAM aidsmap's Susan Cole spoke to Professor Kevin Fenton, Public Health Director for London, about monkeypox.

Professor Kevin Fenton and Ian Jackson talk to NAM aidsmap's Susan Cole about the importance of testing for HIV in this video we've produced with Africa Advocacy Foundation.

NAM aidsmap's Susan Cole talks to Harun Tulunay, who shares his experience of recently being hospitalised with severe monkeypox, and Dr Laura Waters, Chair of the British HIV Association, about the virus.

Julie Reynolds talks to Susan Cole about what growing older with HIV means to her in our video we've produced with the Sophia Forum, Positively UK and UCL Institute for Global Health.

Activist Idris Mwendwa talks to NAM aidsmap's Susan Cole about the importance of testing for HIV in this video we've produced with Africa Advocacy Foundation.

Angelina Namiba from the 4M Mentor Mothers Network shows NAM aidsmap's Susan Cole how to create U=U t-shirts. This video is part of our HIV stigma project for Black women with HIV in collaboration with 4M, funded by Fast-Track Cities London.

Positive Fitness is an online exercise class designed to support people living with HIV to get fit and stay active.

Community advocates Denis Onyango from Africa Advocacy Foundation (AAF) and Mesfin Ali talk to NAM aidsmap's Susan Cole at the BHIVA conference about the importance of testing for HIV in this video we've produced with AAF.

HIV consultant Professor Yvonne Gilleece and Rebecca Mbewe from the 4M Mentor Mothers Network share their advice for women with HIV thinking of starting a family.

British HIV Association (BHIVA) Chair Dr Laura Waters talks to NAM aidsmap's Susan Cole at the BHIVA conference about the importance of testing for HIV in this video we've produced with Africa Advocacy Foundation.

HIV consultant Dr Michael Brady talks to NAM aidsmap's Susan Cole about the importance of testing for HIV in this video we've produced with Africa Advocacy Foundation.

Fungai Murau talks to Susan Cole about weight gain in women with HIV in this video we've produced with the Sophia Forum, Positively UK and UCL Institute for Global Health.

NAM aidsmap's Susan Cole speaks to Angelina Namiba, Dr Naomi Sutton and Dr Shema Tariq about sex and relationship issues in women living with HIV.

HIV consultant Dr Rageshri Dhairyawan talks to NAM aidsmap's Susan Cole about the importance of testing for HIV in this video we've produced with Africa Advocacy Foundation.

Dr Vanessa Apea shares facts about 'Undetectable equals Untransmittable' (U=U) in the first video from our new project for Black women living with HIV on stigma, in collaboration with the 4M Mentor Mothers Network.

Ana de Oliveira shares in Portuguese how important it is to test for HIV in this video we've produced with Africa Advocacy Foundation.

Memory Sachikonye, an HIV treatment advocate and community activist, shares in Shona how important it is to test for HIV in this video we've produced with Africa Advocacy Foundation.

Tresca Wilson talks about HIV testing in this video we've produced with Africa Advocacy Foundation.

Florence Eshalomi MP talks about HIV testing in this video we've produced with Africa Advocacy Foundation.

Memory Sachikonye talks about HIV testing in this video we've produced with Africa Advocacy Foundation.

Angelina Namiba from the 4M Mentor Mothers Network shares, in Swahili, why testing for HIV is so important in this video we've produced with Africa Advocacy Foundation.

Rebecca Mbewe shares her experiences of ageing with HIV in this video we've produced with the Sophia Forum, Positively UK and UCL Institute for Global Health.

Dr Vanessa Apea, consultant in sexual health and HIV medicine, talks about the importance of COVID-19 vaccinations.

Fungai Murau talks about HIV testing in this video we've produced with Africa Advocacy Foundation.

Dr Shema Tariq, HIV doctor and researcher at University College London (UCL), shares information about the menopause and HIV in our video we've produced with the Sophia Forum, Positively UK and UCL Institute for Global Health.

Jo Josh shares her experiences of ageing with HIV in this video we've produced with the Sophia Forum, Positively UK and UCL Institute for Global Health.

People living with HIV are living increasingly long lives. NAM aidsmap's Susan Cole talks about life expectancy for people living with HIV in our video.

NAM aidsmap's Matthew Hodson talks about HIV transmission, including the conditions that need to be met for HIV to be transmitted, the main ways HIV is passed on and impossible routes of transmission.

The guidance on the safest way to feed your baby if you live with HIV, depends on where you live in the world. NAM aidsmap's Susan Cole shares the latest advice in our new video.

Estelle Duncan talks about HIV testing in this video we've produced with Africa Advocacy Foundation.

How soon after someone has been exposed to HIV can a test detect whether they have HIV? NAM aidsmap's Matthew Hodson explains window periods for HIV testing.

Adetunji Omotosho talks about HIV testing in this video we've produced with Africa Advocacy Foundation.

In our video with Africa Advocacy Foundation, Neo Moepi shares why testing for HIV is so important: knowing your status, taking HIV treatment and having an undetectable viral load means being able to have children without passing on HIV.

Charity Nyirenda explains how easy and important it is to get tested for HIV in this video we've produced with Africa Advocacy Foundation.

Bakita Kasadha talks about HIV testing in this video we've produced with Africa Advocacy Foundation.

Yvonne Richards shares her experiences of ageing with HIV in this video we've produced with the Sophia Forum, Positively UK and UCL Institute for Global Health.

In this short film produced by NAM aidsmap, Susan Cole talks to Siobhán Lanigan and Clifford McManus from The Food Chain and quilt panel maker Dr Gill Brigg about the 2021 UK AIDS Memorial Quilt Display, the largest display in the UK since 1994.

Emma Cole shares her experiences of ageing with HIV in this video we've produced with the Sophia Forum, Positively UK and UCL Institute for Global Health.

Winnie Ssanyu Sseruma shares why getting tested for HIV is so important in this video we've produced with Africa Advocacy Foundation.

Neo Moepi shares her experiences of having children as a woman living with HIV in this video from our short series about conception, pregnancy, childbirth and beyond.

Sasha Goodman talks about having children as a woman living with HIV in this video from our short series about conception, pregnancy, childbirth and beyond.

Angelina Namiba talks about having a baby as a woman living with HIV, including delivery options, staying engaged in care and feeding your baby.

Sophie Strachan shares her experiences of the menopause as a woman living with HIV in this video we've produced with Sophia Forum, Positively UK and UCL Institute for Global Health.

Rebecca Mbewe shares why getting tested for HIV is so important in this video we've produced with Africa Advocacy Foundation.

Rev. Jide Macaulay talks about his experience of living with HIV, how easy it is to get tested and why HIV testing is so important.

Angelina Namiba talks about the importance of HIV testing for people in Black communities in this video we've produced with Africa Advocacy Foundation.

Winnie Ssanyu Sseruma talks about ageing with HIV in this video we've produced with Sophia Forum, Positively UK and UCL Institute for Global Health.

NAM aidsmap teamed up with award-winning animation studio Animade to produce U=U for World AIDS Day 2020. The film fights stigma with knowledge by reinforcing the ‘Undetectable = Untransmittable’ consensus statement that people with HIV on effective treatment can’t pass on the virus.

NAM's Matthew Hodson talks about on what we know about pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and sexually transmitted infections from research.

Having an undetectable HIV viral load means that HIV cannot be passed on during sex. In our video, NAM's Matthew Hodson talks about Undetectable equals Untransmittable (U=U).

NAM's Susan Cole talks about HIV and the menopause. A number of studies have found that women living with HIV may experience the menopause earlier than women who don't have HIV and may get worse symptoms.

Dr Tristan Barber and Jo Josh talk about HIV and ageing, including the health prospects for people living with HIV, and give advice for people to stay healthy as they get older.