Living with HIV in the UKProduced by

What do you think of when you hear HIV?

Do you think of…

Think it doesn’t affect you? There are over 80,000 people living

with HIV in the UK

A third of them don’t know their diagnosis

More than 1 in 10 of new diagnoses in 2007 were amongst 16-24 year olds

At least 20,000 children live in a family affected by HIV

Quick facts about HIV HIV is a virus that attacks the body’s

immune system

In the UK the main ways HIV is passed on are:

Unprotected sex between a man and a woman, or between two men

Sharing needles for injecting drugs

You cannot get HIV from day-to-day contact such as spitting, sharing cups, toilets, holding hands or kissing

Living with HIV

In the UK, treatment is available to keep people with HIV healthy

People on treatment can live long, healthy lives

But treatment can be difficult to take and have serious side-effects

You can’t tell someone has HIV just by looking at them

Speaking out If you have HIV, it can be hard telling

other people Some people are scared of people with

HIV They think they might get HIV from

them So they don’t want to be friends, or

work with them, or live next door to them

But we know you can’t get HIV from day-to-day contact

Discrimination Discrimination means being treated

badly because of something about you It could be because of race, religion or

having HIV People with HIV can face discrimination

in different places, such as Schools Work GPs or dentists Or even from friends and family

Sara’s story

Sara was about to start primary school

Her mum told the school that Sara was HIV-positive

The teachers were very worried about teaching a child with HIV and said they didn’t want her in their class

Would it matter to you if someone in your class had HIV?

Protection

The law makes it illegal to discriminate against people living with HIV

This protects people from discrimination in: Work Schools Colleges Services

Which means Sara should be able to go to school just like anyone else

Prejudice and discrimination come out of ignorance

Tell other people about HIV so they know the facts

Make this school a positive place that supports everyone

Make a difference

Presentation produced by

November 2008For more information visit www.worldaidsday.org