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100 ways to respond to HIV and AIDS
 
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100 ways to respond to HIV and AIDS

  1. Know how HIV is transmitted.
  2. Talk with your partner about your mutual risk.
  3. Participate in community events on HIV and AIDS.
  4. Never have sex with someone whose HIV status you are not sure of without using a condom.
  5. Be aware that anyone - even you - can get HIV.
  6. If you are living with HIV, and even if you are not, improve your nutrition.
  7. Don't have sex with multiple partners unless you use a condom each time.
  8. Exercise regularly, whether you are living with HIV or not.
  9. If you are living with HIV, be sure to take any prescribed medication on schedule.
  10. Keep condoms on hand in your bedroom and other places where you are likely to engage in sexual relations.
  11. Talk to your partner about ways to ensure protection from HIV.
  12. Learn about and dispel HIV myths.
  13. Make sure that any blood transfusion you may need for surgery or other health procedures has been screened and is safe.
  14. Never reuse a condom.
  15. Learn how to use a male condom properly.
  16. Learn how to use a female condom properly.
  17. Make using condoms fun.
  18. Use a condom for vaginal, anal and oral sex - one for each act.
  19. Go for voluntary confidential counselling and testing for HIV.
  20. Don't share needles or any sharp instruments as they may be contaminated with HIV.
  21. Encourage friends and family members to get tested.
  22. Don't let anyone else's semen, vaginal fluids or blood get into your body unless you are certain the person is HIV-negative.
  23. Find out what your local AIDS service organizations do and volunteer your time, where possible.
  24. Talk to your partner about intimacy.
  25. Be aware that you can't tell if someone has HIV just by looking at them.
  26. Stay in a monogamous relationship where both you and your partner have been tested for HIV and adjust your sexual behaviour in accordance with your HIV status.
  27. Be aware that HIV can be transmitted from mother to child; get tested before and/or after you become pregnant and discuss with your physician the best options for you and your baby.
  28. Plan to be safe before you find yourself in a risky situation.
  29. Carry condoms with you when you travel ...just in case.
  30. Speak to a UN-affiliated health-care provider or another qualified health-care provider about HIV prevention, care and treatment.
  31. Be close to someone without having sex.
  32. Don't abuse alcohol or drugs, which can impair your judgement.
  33. Use water-based lubricants with latex condoms, not oil-based lubricants.
  34. Open a condom package carefully so it doesn't tear.
  35. Consider sexual abstinence as a possible option.
  36. Talk to your children about delaying their first sexual experience until they are physically and psychologically ready and able to protect themselves.
  37. Read and re-read the UN booklet Living in a World with HIV and AIDS.
  38. Talk to your children about HIV and AIDS.
  39. Think before you act on sexual feelings.
  40. Put a bumper sticker on your car from a local AIDS service organization that is supportive of people living with and affected by HIV.
  41. Have your family members read and re-read the UN booklet Living in a World with HIV and AIDS.
  42. Don't have sex with anyone who won't use a condom, unless you know for certain that you are both HIV-negative and are in a monogamous relationship with one another.
  43. Lobby the UN system in your country to organize a learning session for children and help to implement it.
  44. Volunteer to be an active member of any local UN workplace programmes on HIV and AIDS.
  45. Learn to say no and mean it.
  46. Respect yourself, protect yourself.
  47. Discuss the questions in the UN booklet Living in a World with HIV and AIDS with your family members.
  48. Don't store condoms in your wallet or glove compartment since the heat can break down the latex and always check the expiry date.
  49. Lobby the UN system in your country to organize a learning session for spouses and partners and help to implement it.
  50. Wear a red ribbon in solidarity with people who have been affected by HIV and/or AIDS.
  51. Attend a talk or presentation about HIV.
  52. Never assume someone is HIV negative just because they 'look healthy'.
  53. Drive safely and always wear a seat belt to reduce the chances of being in an accident that could expose you to contaminated blood.
  54. Be suspicious when someone says "Trust me".
  55. Participate in UN activities on HIV and AIDS.
  56. Learn how to give first aid safely.
  57. Have your children make a poster about HIV and AIDS and then post it in your office.
  58. Know where to get condoms.
  59. Donate money to a local AIDS service organization.
  60. Get to know someone who is living with HIV.
  61. Make a list of things you can do to enjoy yourself besides having sex.
  62. Learn how to do a condom demonstration, and then do one for your friends.
  63. Volunteer to talk about HIV prevention for a community group.
  64. Read condom packages to be sure that they protect against HIV, since not all do.
  65. Find out how people in your community have been affected by HIV by speaking to people working in HIV and AIDS programmes and reading articles.
  66. Participate in World AIDS Day activities.
  67. Protect yourself from other sexually transmitted infections.
  68. Get treated quickly if you have a sexually transmitted infection.
  69. Find out what HIV/AIDS programmes are being implemented by your government, local NGOs and the UN system.
  70. Get comfortable talking about sex with your children and partners.
  71. Find out more about HIV and AIDS by visiting the UNAIDS website: http://www.unaids.org
  72. Find out how the HIV test works.
  73. Store condoms in a cool, dry place.
  74. Talk about safer sex with friends.
  75. Explore all parts of the UN website on HIV and AIDS in the UN workplace: http://unworkplace.unaids.org
  76. If and when possible, try not to let yourself be pressured into having sex.
  77. Know that HIV can be passed through blood, semen, vaginal fluids and breast milk.
  78. Have your children explore the section devoted to them in the UN website on HIV and AIDS in the UN workplace: http://unworkplace.unaids.org
  79. Don't let anyone talk you out of using a condom.
  80. If you are living with, or affected by, HIV, join a local support group.
  81. Find out more about HIV and AIDS by visiting the website of your own UN organization.
  82. Make a personal plan for having safe sex and review it from time to time.
  83. When undergoing body-piercing and tattooing, ensure that the equipment used is sterile.
  84. Avoid people who may want to pressure you into unsafe behaviours.
  85. Think before you drink.
  86. Remember that most people living with HIV don't know they have the virus.
  87. Know that the only sure way to tell if you or anyone else has HIV is to voluntarily get tested.
  88. Learn how to enjoy safer sex.
  89. Overcome any fears you may have about voluntary confidential counselling and testing - and go for it.
  90. Read the UN Personnel Policy on HIV/AIDS.
  91. If you read an article in the local newspaper that stigmatizes people living with HIV, write a letter to the editor to express your disappointment.
  92. Only have unprotected sex with one uninfected person who only has sex with you.
  93. Don't depend on someone else to protect you.
  94. Practise using a male or female condom by yourself until you can put it on correctly and easily.
  95. Ask your partner to join you in taking an HIV test and let him/her know all of the benefits.
  96. Know that HIV isn't transmitted through casual contact.
  97. Get trained as an HIV peer educator.
  98. Understand that antiretrovirals do not cure HIV and that they can have unpleasant side-effects.
  99. If you read an article in the local newspaper that is inaccurate, write a letter to the editor to set the record straight.
  100. Think of 100 more ways to respond to HIV.