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Easy-to-read and illustrated information on how different types of anti-HIV drugs work against HIV.

HIV treatment helps you stay well by reducing the amount of HIV in your body. All anti-HIV drugs try to prevent HIV infecting new cells, but different types of drugs do this in different ways. A combination of two different types of drugs provides a powerful attack on HIV.

The aim of treatment is an ‘undetectable viral load’ – very low levels of HIV in the blood.

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How treatment works

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How treatment works
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

Taking drugs on time

Taking drugs on time

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.

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

Where to get HIV treatment

Image: PongMoji/Shutterstock.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.

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.