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Populations who access HIV testing are less likely to engage in behaviors with high risk of contracting HIV, [16] 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. Over 60 countries impose some form of travel restriction, either for short or long-term ...
Risky sexual behavior includes unprotected intercourse, multiple sexual partners, and illicit drug use. [1] [2] [10] The use of alcoholic drinks and illicit drugs greatly increases the risk of gonorrhea, chlamydia, trichomoniasis, hepatitis B, and HIV/AIDS. [2] Trauma from penile-anal sex has been identified as a risky sexual behavior. [11]
Marginalized, at-risk groups such as members of the LGBTQ+ community, intravenous drug users, and sex workers are most vulnerable to facing HIV/AIDS discrimination. The consequences of societal stigma against PLHIV are quite severe, as HIV/AIDS discrimination actively hinders access to HIV/AIDS screening and care around the world. [1]
Ultimately, HIV causes AIDS by depleting CD4 + T cells. This weakens the immune system and allows opportunistic infections. T cells are essential to the immune response and without them, the body cannot fight infections or kill cancerous cells. The mechanism of CD4 + T cell depletion differs in the acute and chronic phases. [103]
Consistent drug usage and related risk behaviors, such as the exchange of sex for drugs or money, are linked to an increased risk of HIV acquisition in marginalized areas. NIAID and other NIH institutes work to develop and optimize harm reduction interventions that decrease the risk of drug use-associated and sexual transmission of HIV among ...
HIV education, HIV testing, condom use, and safer-sex negotiation greatly decreases the risk to the disease. [ 5 ] [ 104 ] Peer education as a harm reduction strategy has especially reduced the risk of HIV infection, such as in Chad, where this method was the most cost-effective per infection prevented.
Scientists and physicians now know that HIV/AIDS does not only affect MSM and can infect anybody, regardless of sex and sexual orientation. [8] [9] Nonetheless, MSM are still considered a "key population" globally, meaning they have high rates of HIV and are at high risk for acquiring it. [8] [10]
Duesberg's claim that recreational drug use, rather than HIV, was the cause of AIDS has been specifically examined and found to be false. Cohort studies have found that only HIV-positive drug users develop opportunistic infections; HIV-negative drug users do not develop such infections, indicating that HIV rather than drug use is the cause of AIDS.