PSA: There is no “AIDS vaccine.” It doesn’t exist. Facts are important, and we’re here to give them to you (and, um, whoever else needs to hear this). Here’s the truth about HIV & AIDS:

HIV is a sexually transmitted infection (STI) that stays in your body for life. HIV is carried in blood, semen, vaginal fluids, and breast milk. Condoms can help prevent HIV. So can a medicine called PrEP (more on that later).

HIV is a virus that damages your immune system, making it easier to get sick. Without treatment, your immune system eventually becomes too weak to protect itself, and other illnesses can attack your body. When this happens, it’s known as AIDS.

Repeat after us: HIV and AIDS are not the same thing. And people living with HIV do not always have AIDS.

Right now, there's no cure for HIV — and there’s no vaccine either. But there are different kinds of medicines that can help prevent HIV, or help you stay healthy if you do have HIV.

PrEP — aka Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis — is a daily pill that helps prevent HIV. If you don’t have HIV, taking PrEP every day can lower your chances of getting HIV from sex by more than 90%.

PEP — aka Post-Exposure Prophylaxis — is a series of pills you take after you’ve been exposed to HIV that lowers your chances of getting it. You have to start taking PEP within 3 days after you were exposed to HIV or it won’t work (the sooner, the better — every hour matters).

ART — antiretroviral therapy — is treatment that helps people living with HIV stay healthy. ART lowers the amount of the virus in your body. This slows down the damage HIV causes, and can also lower or even stop your chances of giving HIV to sexual partners.

Millions of people are living with HIV. With treatment and support, people with HIV can have long, healthy, fulfilling lives. And safer sex and taking PrEP can help prevent HIV. That’s why access to sex education and health care is SO important.

We also need to fix structural inequities — like systemic racism — that make it harder for people to access health care and lead to certain communities being disproportionately impacted by HIV and other health problems.

Politicians should spend more time listening to public health experts (ahem: https://p.ppfa.org/2zIx7EA ) & less time spreading lies & misinformation. Thank you to the providers who work with patients every day to get people the health care & info they need to stay healthy.