Get Empowered

Your risk of getting HIV or passing it to someone else depends on several things. Do you know what they are? You might want to talk to someone who knows about HIV. You can also do the following:

• Abstain from sex (do not have oral, anal, or vaginal sex) until you are in a relationship with only one person, are having sex with only each other, and each of you knows the other's HIV status.
  • If both you and your partner have HIV, use condoms to prevent other STDs and possible infection with a different strain of HIV.
  • If only one of you has HIV, use a latex condom and lubricant every time you have sex.
• If you have, or plan to have, more than one sex partner, consider the following:
  • Get tested for HIV
    • If you are a woman who is planning to get pregnant or who is pregnant, get tested as soon as possible, before you have your baby.
  • Talk about HIV and other STDs with each partner before you have sex.
  • Learn as much as you can about each partner's past behavior (sex and drug use) and consider the risks to your health before you have sex.
  • Ask your partners if they have recently been tested for HIV; encourage those who have not been tested to do so.
  • Use a latex condom and lubricant every time you have sex.
  • If you think you may have been exposed to another STD such as gonorrhea, syphilis, or Chlamydia trachomatis infection, get treatment. These diseases can increase your risk of getting HIV.
• Even if you think you have low risk for HIV infection, get tested whenever you have a regular medical check-up.
• Do not inject illicit drugs (drugs not prescribed by your doctor). You can get HIV through needles, syringes, and other works if they are contaminated with the blood of someone who has HIV. Drugs also cloud your mind, which may result in riskier sex.
• If you do inject drugs, do the following:
  • Use only clean needles, syringes, and other works.
  • Never share needles, syringes, or other works.
  • Be careful not to expose yourself to another person's blood.
  • Get tested for HIV test at least once a year.
  • Consider getting counseling and treatment for your drug use.
• Do not have sex when you are taking drugs or drinking alcohol because being high can make you more likely to take risks.

Impact on Women and Young People

• Today, women represent a larger share of new HIV infections compared to earlier in the epidemic. HIV incidence among women increased gradually until the late 1980s, declined during the early 1990s, and has remained relatively stable since, at approximately 27% in 2006. Based on the CDC's most recent estimates, close to 280,000 women are living with HIV and AIDS in the U.S.
• Women of color are particularly affected. Black women accounted for two thirds (65%) of new AIDS cases among women in 2007; Latinas represented 15% and white women, 17%. Black women also accounted for the largest share of new HIV infections among women in 2006 (61%).
• Young adults and teens, under the age of 30, continue to be at risk, with those between the ages of 13 and 29 accounting for 34% of new HIV infections in 2006, the largest share of any age group. Most young people are infected sexually.
• Among young people, teen girls and minorities have been particularly affected. In 2006, teen girls represented 39% of AIDS cases reported among 13–19 year-olds. Black teens represented 69% of cases reported among 13–19 year-olds; Latino teens represented 19%.
• Perinatal HIV transmission, from an HIV infected mother to her baby, has declined significantly in the U.S., largely due to ARVs which can prevent mother-to-child transmission.

HIV/AIDS at Home

Today, 5,100 or 69% of diagnosed people reported to be living with HIV or AIDS in Middle Tennessee.

In Middle Tennessee women account for 20% of new HIV infections and 28% of new HIV infections.

African Americans and Hispanics represent 55% of new HIV infections in Middle Tennessee's, Nashville Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA--AA 48%, H 7%).

18% of new HIV infections are among youth under age 25.

As of December 2007, almost 7,500 Middle Tennesseans have been reported with AIDS or HIV infection since the epidemic began. This represents 35% of the 21,400 Tennesseans diagnosed statewide.

Approximately 300-370 new cases of HIV and AIDS are reported annually in Middle Tennessee.

About 5% of new HIV infections are among Middle Tennesseans age 55 or older.

As mirrored throughout the United states, unsafe sexual behavior (both heterosexual and homosexual) are the main transmission factors, accounting for about 71% of new infections.

In 2008 someone in Middle Tennessee died from AIDS every 4-5 days.