Skip to content

Easy-to-read and illustrated information on the importance of taking anti-HIV drugs on time.

For HIV treatment to work well, you need to always take your pills at the right time, without missing any doses.

Taking anti-HIV drugs regularly will mean that there is always enough of the drugs in your body. This will keep HIV under control. Not taking drugs as prescribed can result in HIV being harder to treat in the future.

Download the digital leaflet

133.25KB
Taking drugs on time

Download the A4 leaflet

134.25KB
Taking drugs on time
Roger Pebody

Roger Pebody

Commissioning Editor

Roger joined aidsmap in 2008 and was Managing Editor from 2018 to 2024. As a freelancer, he now edits aidsmap’s news and conference coverage, as well as working on updates to About HIV pages. He is also a contributing science editor for TheBodyPro, a freelance journalist for The Lancet HIV, and a medical writer helping researchers prepare articles for peer-reviewed journals. He began working on HIV at Gay Men Fighting AIDS in the mid-1990s.

Basic information

How treatment works

How treatment works

Drug resistance

Drug resistance

Side effects

Side effects

HIV and the immune system

HIV and the immune system

Myths and facts

Myths and facts

Life expectancy

Life expectancy leaflet front cover

What should I do if I throw up after taking my HIV meds?

If I change HIV treatment and find that I don’t like my new meds, can I go back to the old ones?

How long will it take for HIV to develop resistance to my medications?

My HIV is undetectable, can I stop my medication?

A white pill bottle is tipped over with white pills spilling out.

What is an elite controller?

Starting HIV treatment

Pill in hand

Recommended treatments for HIV

A man in a blue t-shirt gets HIV treatment out of a blister pack.

One-pill-a-day HIV treatments

Image: carballo/Shutterstock.com

Anti-HIV drugs

Anti-HIV drugs booklet

Taking your HIV treatment

Taking your HIV treatment booklet

An introduction to HIV medicines

An introduction to HIV medicines

Why taking your HIV treatment properly is important

Image: Domizia Salusest | www.domiziasalusest.com

Adherence to HIV treatment

Image: Domizia Salusest | www.domiziasalusest.com

Food requirements for anti-HIV medications

People sit outside at a table with a close up of a hand with pills in it.

Resistance to anti-HIV drugs

Image: Domizia Salusest | www.domiziasalusest.com

What happens to HIV drugs in the body, and do missed doses matter?

Mareike Günsche | www.aspect-us.com

Interactions between HIV medication and recreational drugs

Two syringes, powder and spoon on old wooden background.

Changing HIV treatment

A man in a bathroom holding two bottles of medication and reading the label of one of them.

Side-effects of HIV treatment

An older man sitting in a chair with a blanket over his knees. He's resting his head on his hand.

Allergic reactions to HIV medications

Photoroyalty/Shutterstock.com

HIV treatment as you get older

A man stands in a doorway smiling.

HIV treatment breaks

A white pill bottle is tipped over with white pills spilling out on to a table.

Should HIV controllers take HIV treatment?

A doctor and patient talking in a doctor's office.

HIV lifecycle

RAJ CREATIONZS/Shutterstock.com

The stages of HIV infection

An illustration of an HIV virus.