Many people who "know better" engage in "risky" activities. The reasons for this are numerous and normal: you could be afraid to insist that your partner use a condom; you could make false assumptions about a partner (they're too young, old, healthy-looking or nice to be HIV positive); you might be a drinker or recreational drug user who does things under the influence that you wouldn't otherwise consider.

If you are a health care worker or someone else with potential occupational exposure to HIV, you should be given clear guidelines about universal precautions, and follow them without exception. If you have been exposed, contact your local emergency room or occupational health department, for advice and treatment protocols.

If you have been a victim of sexual assault, or if you believe you may have been exposed to HIV, you should immediately contact a physician and consider short-term antiretroviral treatment until you can get tested.

Like airbags or helmets, condoms cannot gurantee 100 percent protection; and sex with condoms can feel different from unprotected sex. The risks associated with not using condoms, such as getting pregnant, getting HIV, sexually transmitted infections (STD's) such as hepatitis and chlamydia, or just having to worry about it, make condoms well worth the hassle.

You've probably heard a lot of old myths about condoms: "They have holes, they're too tight for me, you can't feel anything", etc. Since AIDS, condoms are thinner, stretchier, stronger, and packaged to last longer on the shelf. Each condom is individually tested for holes.

More than seven million Indians get blood transfusions each year. The vast majority of these people receive uncontaminated blood. Transmission of HIV and other viruses can occur during transfusion of blood or blood products, but it is very rare. 

Although blood from each accepted donor goes through extensive laboratory testing. In addition to tests for blood type, seven separate screening tests check for evidence of infection with hepatitis, HIV, HTLV and syphilis.

Blood is not 100% safe because there is a period of time, referred to as the "window period", in which infection has occurred, but the body has not begun a measurable antibody response.Because people generally receive more than one unit of blood, the risk for each person is probably closer to 1 in 90,000. The risk of contracting hepatitis B is about 1 in 63,000 per unit of blood transfused and it is 1 in 100,000 for hepatitis C.

International Scenario

Africa

"The transmission of HIV infection through unscreened blood transfusion continues to be a concern in several countries in sub-Saharan Africa. In this region in 1995, over 2.5 million blood transfusions were administered - most of them to women and children - and of those, nearly a quarter had not been screened for HIV antibodies."

Asia

"In Japan, the predominant mode of infection in AIDS patients has been through transfusions of contaminated blood products. In 1990, 80% of AIDS cases were attributed to contaminated blood transfusions, a number that fell to 41% by 1997.(70) Since 1985, heat treatment of blood has essentially eliminated transmission by blood products, and the significance of commercial sex and intravenous drug use is growing. Although most other Asian nations have also instituted HIV screening of their blood, India and the Philippines stand as exceptions. In India, only about 50% of the donated blood is screened, and studies have shown that 10% of the paid donors are HIV positive.(69) The Philippines also relies on commercial blood donations."

Latin America

It is possible to become infected with HIV through unprotected oral sex, although it is much safer than unprotected anal or vaginal sex. Certain factors are thought to increase the riskiness of oral sex.

Receiving oral sex, or being sucked or licked, is considered a theoretical risk only. There have not been any reported cases of transmission to the person being sucked or licked.

Giving oral sex (blow job) to a man has been proven to carry some risk of getting HIV, although most scientists believe the risk is relatively low. The risk increases if the person giving the blow job has any cuts or scrapes in his or her mouth, even small ones that can be caused by brushing or flossing right before sex. To have safer oral sex, avoid getting any semen in your mouth, either by pulling away before ejaculation, or by using a non-spermicidal condom.

Giving oral sex to (going down on) a woman is also relatively low risk. The possibility of infection is higher if there is menstrual blood or if the woman has another STD. You can use an oral barrier such as a dental dam or plastic wrap to make oral-vaginal sex (cunnilingus) or oral-anal sex (rimming) safer.

Globally, 34.3 million adults and children were living with HIV/AIDS at the end of 1999. Of the 33 million adults living with HIV/AIDS, 15.7 million were women. About 95 percent of those infected with HIV live in developing countries, where the cost of combination therapies is prohibitive. In 1999, 5.4 million people--of whom 2.3 million were women--were newly infected with HIV, and 2.8 million people died of AIDS. Since the beginning of the epidemic, there have been 18.8 million AIDS deaths and 13.2 million AIDS orphans.

In the United States, the CDC estimates that between 800,000 and 900,000 people in the U.S. are living with HIV/AIDS. Of them, a record number-–297,136-–are estimated to be living with AIDS. Public education and prevention efforts and newer, more effective therapies have helped slow the annual increase in the number of AIDS cases. Although AIDS cases rose by 65 to 90 percent annually in the first decade of the epidemic, these rates decreased dramatically in the 1990s. Between 1995 and 1996, the number of new AIDS cases reported in the U.S. declined by 6 percent; between 1996 and 1997, by 18 percent; and between 1997 and 1998, by 11 percent. These data indicate that although the number of new cases each year continues to drop, the rate of decline has slowed.

AIDS deaths have also declined in recent years, although this trend too has been slowing. Yet despite declining AIDS cases and deaths, the rate of new HIV infections has not declined, remaining steady at about 40,000 annually.

The disproportionate impact of the epidemic on racial and ethnic minorities has been increasing, and minority Americans now represent the majority both of new AIDS cases and of those living with AIDS. In 1998, African Americans represented 45 percent of new AIDS cases yet accounted for only 12 percent of the population. Latino/a Americans represented 20 percent of new AIDS cases but only 13 percent of the population. African Americans and Latino/a Americans represent 40 and 20 percent, respectively, of those living with AIDS.

The proportion of AIDS cases reported among women each year has more than tripled, from 7 percent in 1986 to 23 percent in 1998. African American women account for 62 percent of AIDS cases reported among all women. Women also represent a growing proportion of those living with AIDS. In 1992, 14 percent of Americans living with AIDS were women; by 1997, the proportion had reached 19 percent.

HIV/AIDS is also increasingly becoming a disease of young adults. At least one-half of all new HIV infections are estimated to be among people under 25, and the majority of young people are infected heterosexually.

(Sources: Report on the Global HIV/AIDS Epidemic, UNAIDS, June 2000; The State of the HIV/AIDS Epidemic in America Kaiser Family Foundation, Capitol Hill Briefing Series on HIV/AIDS, April 2000.)

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