4 HIV/AIDS Care Terms You Should Know

With immense progress made in HIV/AIDS care in recent years, new terms and phrases have also emerged. If you’ve seen some unfamiliar words or phrases in the news, in conversations online, or even in pharmaceutical commercials, have no fear! We’re breaking down 4 of the most commonly used terms in conversations about HIV/AIDS care:

Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) is a life-saving treatment that helps a person living with HIV maintain an undetectable viral load. By taking an antiretroviral (ARV) pill daily, or injectable every 60 days, a person with HIV will not be able to transmit the virus to anyone else

Virologically suppressed is a term that describes when an HIV-positive person has an undetectable viral load (having less than 200 copies of HIV per milliliter of blood). An undetectable viral load is the mark of effective ART. Virologically suppressed HIV patients can’t transmit the virus to others.

U=U is an acronym for Undetectable Equals Untransmittable. The international U=U campaign signifies that HIV-positive people with an undetectable viral load are not contagious. U=U is the ultimate goal for anyone on ART.

PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) is a preventative medication that someone living without HIV can take to reduce their chance of getting HIV through sex by 99% or infection from injection drug use by 74%.

Sources: POZ Magazine, Center for Disease Control