HIV and AIDS: Simple Ways to Reduce Your Risk
HIV is a virus that attacks the body’s immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to AIDS, the most advanced stage of the infection. There is still no cure, but HIV is now preventable and, with treatment, people living with it can lead long and healthy lives. This guide sets out simple, evidence based ways to reduce your risk of HIV, how the virus does and does not spread, and the latest figures for India and the world. It is based on guidance from the World Health Organization (WHO), UNAIDS and India’s National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO), updated in October 2026.
This article is general health information, not medical advice. For testing, PrEP or PEP, speak to a doctor or visit a testing centre.
Table of Contents
Quick Facts
| Item | Figure |
|---|---|
| People living with HIV worldwide (2025) | 41.0 million |
| New infections worldwide (2025) | 1.2 million |
| People on treatment worldwide (2025) | 32.1 million |
| People living with HIV in India (2024) | About 25.61 lakh |
| Adult prevalence in India | 0.20% |
| India’s National AIDS Helpline | 1097 (toll free) |
HIV and AIDS: What Is the Difference?
HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus. It damages white blood cells called CD4 cells, which help the body fight infection. AIDS, or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, is the stage when the immune system has been badly weakened and serious infections or certain cancers take hold. Not everyone with HIV develops AIDS. With regular treatment, most people never reach that stage.
How HIV Spreads
HIV passes from one person to another through certain body fluids: blood, semen, vaginal fluids and breast milk. The main routes are:
- Vaginal or anal sex without a condom.
- Sharing needles, syringes or other injecting equipment.
- Unsafe injections, blood transfusions or procedures with unsterile instruments.
- From a mother to her baby during pregnancy, birth or breastfeeding, if she is not on treatment.
Having another sexually transmitted infection, such as syphilis, herpes, chlamydia or gonorrhoea, raises the risk. So does heavy use of alcohol or drugs, which can lead to unplanned sex without protection.
How HIV Does Not Spread
According to WHO, HIV does not spread through ordinary daily contact. You cannot get it from kissing, hugging, shaking hands, sharing food or water, using the same toilet, or from mosquito bites. Knowing this helps reduce the stigma that still keeps many people from getting tested.
Simple Ways to Reduce Your Risk of HIV
1. Use Condoms Every Time
Male and female condoms, used correctly every time, are one of the most effective ways to prevent HIV and other sexually transmitted infections during sex. Use a water or silicone based lubricant, as oil based products can weaken latex.
2. Get Tested, and Encourage Partners to Test
Knowing your status, and your partner’s, is a key part of prevention. Tests are quick and confidential, and in India they are free at government Integrated Counselling and Testing Centres. WHO also recommends testing for other sexually transmitted infections, since treating them lowers HIV risk. Remember that there is a window period after infection when some tests cannot yet detect the virus, so a repeat test may be advised.
3. Ask a Doctor About PrEP
Pre exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, is medicine taken by people who do not have HIV to stop them getting it. WHO recommends several forms, including daily pills, a vaginal ring and long acting injections such as cabotegravir and lenacapavir. PrEP is for people at higher risk and must be prescribed and monitored by a clinician. Availability differs by country.
4. Know About PEP After a Possible Exposure
Post exposure prophylaxis, or PEP, is a short course of HIV medicine taken after a possible exposure, such as sex without a condom, a condom break, sexual assault or a needle injury. It must be started as soon as possible and within 72 hours. Go to a hospital emergency department or HIV clinic straight away if you think you were exposed.
5. Treatment Is Prevention
People living with HIV who take antiretroviral treatment and keep an undetectable viral load do not pass HIV to their sexual partners. Starting treatment early protects both the person’s own health and the people close to them.
6. Never Share Needles
Use only new, sterile needles and syringes. Harm reduction services, including needle exchange and opioid substitution therapy, lower the risk for people who inject drugs. In India, injecting drug use accounts for about 11.5 percent of HIV transmission.
7. Insist on Safe Medical Care
Make sure injections use a new needle and that tattoos, piercings, shaving at barbers and dental work use sterile or single use tools. Licensed blood banks screen donated blood for HIV.
8. Protect Babies During Pregnancy
Every pregnant woman should be offered an HIV test. If a mother has HIV, treatment during pregnancy and breastfeeding greatly lowers the chance of passing it to her baby.
9. Consider Male Circumcision Where Advised
WHO lists voluntary medical male circumcision as a way to reduce the risk of men acquiring HIV through heterosexual sex. It gives partial protection and should always be combined with condoms.
Common Myths About HIV
- Myth: You can tell if someone has HIV by looking at them. Most people with HIV look and feel well. Only a test can tell.
- Myth: HIV only affects certain groups. Anyone who is exposed can get HIV, whatever their age, gender or background.
- Myth: HIV is a death sentence. With treatment, people with HIV can expect a life span close to that of people without it.
- Myth: Traditional remedies can cure HIV. No herbal or home remedy cures HIV. Only antiretroviral treatment controls it.
Living Well With HIV
A positive result is not the end of a normal life. Treatment is usually one or more pills a day, or in some places long acting injections, along with regular blood tests to check the viral load. Eating well, staying active, avoiding smoking and getting recommended vaccines all help. In India, a law passed in 2017 protects people living with HIV from discrimination in jobs, schools, housing and health care.
The Latest HIV Figures
UNAIDS estimates that 41.0 million people were living with HIV worldwide in 2025. There were 1.2 million new infections and 570,000 deaths from AIDS related illness. About 32.1 million people were on treatment, and new infections have fallen by 65 percent since their peak in 1994.
In India, NACO’s 2025 estimates put the number of people living with HIV at about 25.61 lakh in 2024, the second highest number in the world, though adult prevalence is low at 0.20 percent. Annual new infections were about 64,470 and AIDS related deaths about 32,160. Since 2010, new infections have fallen by 48.69 percent and deaths by 81.42 percent. Heterosexual sex accounts for about 73 percent of transmission.
Signs That You Should Get Tested
Many people with HIV feel well for years. Some get a flu like illness, with fever, rash, sore throat or swollen glands, a few weeks after infection. Because symptoms are unreliable, the only way to know is to get tested. Testing is a good idea after any unprotected sex with a new partner, after sharing needles, during pregnancy, or if you have another sexually transmitted infection.
Where to Get Help in India
NACO runs a National AIDS Helpline on 1097, free from any phone. Government testing centres and antiretroviral therapy centres offer free, confidential testing and treatment. You can also speak to your family doctor.
Read more in our posts on World AIDS Vaccine Day, sexuality education in India and signs of good health.
Carrying condoms and talking about testing before sex makes protection easier when the moment comes.
Many clinics offer counselling along with testing, so you do not have to receive a result alone.
Telling a doctor honestly about your risks helps them suggest the right tests and prevention options.
People living with HIV have the same right to privacy, work and health care as anyone else.
Regular health checks are a good time to ask about HIV and other sexually transmitted infection tests.
Young people can find accurate sexual health information from doctors, school counsellors and government health services.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best way to reduce the risk of HIV?
Using condoms every time, testing regularly, never sharing needles and asking a doctor about PrEP if you are at higher risk.
Can HIV spread through kissing?
No. WHO says HIV does not spread through kissing, hugging, handshakes or sharing food and water.
How soon must PEP be started?
As soon as possible after a possible exposure, and within 72 hours. Seek medical help immediately.
Is there a cure for HIV?
No. Treatment controls the virus so people can live long, healthy lives, and it stops sexual transmission when the viral load is undetectable.