Prevention of HIV

HIV prevention might refer to practices done to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. HIV prevention practices may be done by individuals to protect "their own health" and the health of those in their community, or may be instituted by governments or other organizations as "public health policies".

Some commonly considered pharmaceutical interventions for the prevention of HIV might include the use of:

Of these, the only universally medically proven method for preventing the spread of HIV during sexual intercourse is the correct use of condoms, and condoms are also the only method promoted by health authorities worldwide. For HIV-positive mothers wishing to prevent the spread of HIV to their children during birth, antiretroviral drugs have been medically proven to reduce the likelihood of the spread of the infection. Scientists worldwide are currently researching other prevention systems.

Increased risk of contracting HIV often correlates with infection by other diseases, particularly other sexually transmitted infections. Medical professionals and scientists recommend treatment or prevention of other infections such as herpes, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, human papillomavirus, syphilis, gonorrhea, and tuberculosis as an indirect way to prevent the spread of HIV infection. Often doctors treat these conditions with pharmaceutical interventions.

As of September 2013, condoms are available inside prisons in Canada, most of the European Union, Australia, Brazil, Indonesia, South Africa, and the US state of Vermont (on September 17, 2013, the Californian Senate approved a bill for condom distribution inside the state's prisons, but the bill was not yet law at the time of approval).

Social strategies do not require any drug or object to be effective, but rather require persons to change their behaviors to gain protection from HIV. Some social strategies which people consider include:

Each of these strategies has widely differing levels of efficacy, social acceptance, and acceptance in the medical and scientific communities.

Populations which receive HIV testing are less likely to engage in behaviors with high risk of contracting HIV, so HIV testing is almost always a part of any strategy to encourage people to change their behaviors to become less likely to contract HIV.

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