My medicine, my health
People who live with HIV usually take medication every day. This helps them live healthy lives and makes it very unlikely that they would pass on HIV to anyone else. However, taking daily medication can be difficult. It can be hard to remember or is sometimes an unwelcome reminder of HIV. Young people often need support.
This is why we’ve been working with a group of young people who live with HIV and health experts to produce a new set of resources on HIV medication. These include an in-depth information booklet on HIV medication (antiretrovirals), information sheets on contraception, HIV meds, PEP, PrEP and the search for an HIV cure, and a set of animations and informative videos.
Information booklet
This booklet gives detailed guidance on HIV medicine, how it works, how to take it and what to expect. It includes an A-Z list of the antiretrovirals available for young people in the UK. Find it here:
Information sheets
These short guides focus in on specific subjects, including the HIV cure, contraception and HIV meds, and preventative HIV medication, PEP and PrEP. Find these below.
All of these resources were funded by ViiV Healthcare and supported by aidsmap.
How HIV medicine works
HIV lives within the fluids in the body. Everyone’s body has an immune system (this is what fights off illnesses and protects you from infections). The HIV virus attacks the immune system cells, making copies of itself, which kill off more immune system cells, and so, after a while, your immune system cannot fight off colds and other illnesses as easily anymore.
The medicines, called antiretroviral therapy (ART), stop the HIV from attacking the immune system. The medicines can’t get rid of the HIV virus completely, but when taken correctly, they do prevent it from having any impact on the body and its functions.
For tips to help you manage taking your medicine from other young people click here.
In this video, specialist nurse Susanna Keiderling talks through some HIV Medication FAQs.
The medication works by keeping the HIV locked up so it can’t make copies of itself. It also helps the body’s immune system to fight off infections. There are different types of medication that work together to control HIV in the body. This is why people in your family who have HIV may take more than one type of medicine.
There currently isn’t any medication that can cure HIV. Scientists are working on a cure, but they haven’t found one yet.
In the video below, one of the young people we work with talks about their experiences with HIV medication.
