Today, more tools than ever are available to prevent HIV. You can use strategies such as abstinence (not having sex), never sharing needles, and using condoms the right way every time you have sex. You may also be able to take advantage of HIV prevention medicines such as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP). If you have HIV, there are many actions you can take to prevent transmitting HIV to others. This section answers some of the most common questions about HIV prevention.

1. How Can I Prevent Getting HIV from Sex?

Choose sexual activities with little to no risk

  1. Choose sex that is less risky than anal or vaginal sex. There is little to no risk of getting HIV through oral sex.
  2. You can’t get HIV from sexual activities that don’t involve contact with body fluids (semen, vaginal fluid, or blood).
  3. Learn more about how HIV is and is not transmitted.

Use condoms the right way every time you have sex

  1. Condoms are highly effective in preventing HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), like gonorrhea and chlamydia.
  2. Use water-based or silicone-based lubricants to help prevent condoms from breaking or slipping during sex.
  3. Learn the right way to use an external condom (sometimes called a male condom) and an internal condom (sometimes called a female condom).

Take PrEP

  1. PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) is a medicine people at risk for HIV take to prevent HIV.
  2. If taken as prescribed, PrEP is highly effective for preventing HIV from sex.
  3. PrEP is much less effective when it is not taken as prescribed.
  4. Find out if PrEP is right for you.

Decide not to have sex

  1. Not having sex (also known as being abstinent) is a 100% effective way to make sure you won’t get HIV through sex.
  2. You can be abstinent at different times in your life for different reasons that may change over time.
  3. Not having sex also prevents other STDs and pregnancy.

Get tested and treated for other STDs

  1. If you have another STD, you are more likely to get HIV. Getting tested and treated for other STDs can lower your chances of getting HIV.
  2. Many people with an STD may not know they have one because they don’t have symptoms.
  3. Find a testing site near you.

If your partner has HIV, encourage your partner to get and stay in treatment

  1. This is the most important thing your partner can do to stay healthy.
  2. If your partner takes HIV medicine and gets and keeps an undetectable viral load, there is effectively no risk of you getting HIV from sex with your partner.
  3. Learn more about the benefits of HIV treatment as prevention.

2. How Can I Prevent Getting HIV from Injection Drug Use?

Never share needles, syringes, or other drug injection equipment

  1. Use new, clean syringes and injection equipment every time you inject.
  2. Many communities have syringe services programs (SSPs[b][c][d]) where you can get new needles and syringes and safely dispose of used ones.
  3. Some pharmacies sell needles without a prescription.

Take PrEP

  1. PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) is medicine people at risk for HIV take to prevent HIV.
  2. If taken as prescribed, PrEP is highly effective for preventing HIV from injection drug use.
  3. PrEP is much less effective when it is not taken as prescribed.
  4. Find out if PrEP is right for you.

Don’t have sex when you’re high on drugs

  1. You’re more likely to engage in risky sexual behaviors.
  2. If you do have sex, use condoms the right way every time.
  3. Learn the right way to use an external condom (sometimes called a male condom) and an internal condom (sometimes called a female condom).

If you share needles, syringes or other equipment, use bleach to clean them

  1. A disinfected syringe is not as good as a new, sterile syringe, but it can greatly reduce your risk for HIV and viral hepatitis.
  2. Learn how to clean your syringes [PDF – 268 KB].

Decide not to inject drugs

  1. This is the best way to prevent getting HIV through injection drug use.
  2. Talk with a counselor, doctor, or other health care provider about treatment for substance use disorder, including medication-assisted treatment.

Needle & syringe exchange program

  1. The Needle & Syringe Exchange Programme (NSEP) is a harm reduction initiative in reducing HIV vulnerability among people who inject drugs (PWID). Introduced by the Malaysian Ministry of Health in partnership with the Malaysian AIDS Council in 2006, the NSEP provides direct community-based health care services for PWID nationwide.
  2. The NSEP has helped more than 24,000 registered people, with over 300,000 NSEP kits containing fresh needles and syringes distributed. Find out more about NSEP at their website https://www.mac.org.my/v3/what-we-do/programme/nsep/ 

3. If I Have HIV, What Is The Best Way to Protect Others?

Get in care and take medicine to treat HIV

  1. HIV medicine (called antiretroviral therapy or ART) can reduce the amount of HIV in the blood (called viral load). HIV medicine can make the viral load very low—so low that a test can’t detect it (called an undetectable viral load).
  2. People with HIV who keep an undetectable viral load (or stay virally suppressed) can live long, healthy lives. Viral suppression is defined as having less than 200 copies of HIV per milliliter of blood.
  3. If a person has an undetectable viral load, they have effectively no risk of transmitting HIV to an HIV-negative partner through sex.
  4. Having an undetectable viral load also helps prevent transmission to others through sharing needles, syringes, or other injection equipment, and from mother-to-child during pregnancy, birth, and breastfeeding.
  5. Most people can get the virus under control within six months.
  6. Taking ART does not prevent transmission of other STDs.