Antiretroviral Treatment (ART) and HIV

1 December is World AIDS Day

World AIDS Day is a global movement to unite people in the fight against HIV and AIDS.  Since 1988, communities have stood together on World AIDS Day to show strength and solidarity against HIV stigma and to remember lives lost.

What is antiretroviral treatment?

Antiretroviral treatment, also known as antiretroviral therapy or ART, is the medication that treats HIV.  ART involves taking a combination of HIV medicines (called an HIV treatment regimen) every day.

The treatment is not a cure for HIV, as it does not kill the virus, but it does keep the HIV virus at very low levels so it doesn’t affect your health.  HIV medicines help people with HIV live longer, healthier lives.  ART also reduces the risk of HIV transmission.

How does antiretroviral treatment work?

HIV attacks the immune system.  The immune system is the part of your body that protects you from other infections.  ART stops HIV from making copies of itself.  This keeps the amount of virus in your blood very low, protecting your immune system so you’re less likely to get sick.

A main goal of HIV treatment is to reduce a person’s viral load (amount of virus in your blood) to an undetectable level.  An undetectable viral load means that the level of HIV in the blood is too low to be detected by a viral load test or a HIV screening test.

Why should you take your HIV medicine as prescribed?

People with HIV who take HIV medicine as prescribed and get and keep an undetectable viral load can live long and healthy lives.

When you take HIV medicine in pill form, it’s important to take it every day, exactly as prescribed.  This is important because skipping doses makes it easier for HIV to change form, causing your medication to stop working.  This is called drug resistance.  HIV can become resistant to your medication and to similar medications that you have not yet taken.  This limits your options for successful HIV treatment.  Drug-resistant strains of HIV can be transmitted to others, too.

Taking your HIV medicine every day, exactly the way your health care provider tells you to, will help keep your viral load low and your CD4 cell count (a count of white blood cells that fight infection) high.  If you skip doses, even now and then, you give HIV the chance to multiply rapidly.  This could weaken your immune system, and you could become sick.

What should you do if you forget to take your HIV medicines?

Talk to your health care provider if you miss a dose.  In most cases, if you realize you missed a dose, take the medicines as soon as you can, then take the next dose at your usual scheduled time (unless your pharmacist, nurse or health care provider has told you something different).  But if it is almost time for the next dose, do not take the missed dose; just take your next dose at the usual time.  Do not take a double dose of a medicine to make up for a missed dose.

Do you have to take your HIV medicine if your viral load is undetectable?

Yes.  ART is not a cure for HIV and the virus remains in your body, even if your viral load is undetectable.  So, you need to keep taking your HIV medicine as prescribed.  If you stop taking your HIV medicine, your viral load will quickly go back up.

Tips to help you take your HIV medication as prescribed

Here are some tips that may help you to take your HIV medicine as prescribed:

  • Follow your treatment plan exactly as your health care provider has prescribed. Depending on your treatment regimen, your provider will tell you whether your HIV medicine should be taken at specific times of the day, with or without certain kinds of food.  If you have questions about when and how to take your HIV medicine, talk to your provider or pharmacist.
  • Create a routine. Take your HIV medicines at the same time every day.  Add taking your HIV medicine to things you already do each day.  For example, if your medical provider prescribes taking your HIV medicine every morning with food, make it a habit to take it at breakfast.
  • Use a weekly pill box. Once a week, fill the pill box with your HIV medicines for the entire week.
  • Set an alarm on your watch or cell phone to remind you to take your medication.
  • Ask a family member or friend to remind you to take your medicines. This can be especially helpful while you are getting into the habit of taking your HIV medication or adjusting to a new regimen.
  • Plan and prepare for changes in your daily routine, including weekends and holidays. If you are going away, pack enough medicine to last the entire trip.
  • Use an app or an online or paper medicine diary to record each medicine as you take it. Reviewing your diary will help you identify the times that you are most likely to forget to take your medicines.
  • Keep all your medical appointments. Regular medical visits are important to monitor the amount of virus in your blood to make sure it stays undetectable, and to receive other medical support.  Use these visits to talk to your provider about any help you might need sticking to your treatment plan.

Set up automatic refills at your pharmacy.  Be sure to refill your prescriptions before you run out of HIV medication.  Scheduled automatic refills will prevent you from running out of medication.