{"id":737,"date":"2015-12-22T06:33:38","date_gmt":"2015-12-22T06:33:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/uss2_wp\/wordpress\/?p=737"},"modified":"2015-12-22T06:34:38","modified_gmt":"2015-12-22T06:34:38","slug":"importance-of-knowing-hiv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/utkalsevaksamaj.org\/index.php\/2015\/12\/22\/importance-of-knowing-hiv\/","title":{"rendered":"Importance of knowing HIV"},"content":{"rendered":"

Why You Should Consider Getting Tested for HIV<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Did you know that about 2.1 million people in the India are living with HIV? “India has the third largest number of people living with HIV in the world \u2014 2.1 million at the end of 2013 \u2014 and accounts for about 4 out of 10 people living with HIV in the region”, the UNAIDS report said. Everyone should consider getting tested for HIV \u2013 men who have sex with men (particularly ethnic minority MSM), transgender individuals, and people who have injected drugs should get tested.
\nHere are five reasons why you should consider getting tested for HIV.<\/p>\n

1. You might have HIV and not know it<\/strong>
\nAn estimated 4 out of 10 people living with HIV in India don\u2019t know that they have HIV. If you have had sex with someone you didn\u2019t know or whose HIV status you didn\u2019t know and you didn\u2019t use a condom, you may have HIV.
\n2. If you have HIV, it is better to start treatment before you get sick<\/strong>
\nYou don\u2019t have to have symptoms to have HIV, but starting treatment before you develop symptoms could help you live longer with fewer health problems than if you delay. The only way to know if you should start treatment is to get tested.
\n3. If you have HIV and don\u2019t know it, you can transmit it to people you have sex with<\/strong>
\nIf you have sex with someone you don\u2019t know, you should always use condoms to prevent transmission of HIV and other sexually-transmitted diseases (STDs) to others and to keep from getting them yourself. If you have HIV, getting treatment can further reduce the possibility of transmission to someone else. Using a condom every time you have sex can be hard; getting treatment doesn\u2019t mean you shouldn\u2019t use condoms, but it can help reduce the risk of transmission if you accidentally forget and don\u2019t.
\n4. Counseling after getting tested can help with planning for both positive and negative test results<\/strong>
\nCounseling can help you make plans to avoid getting HIV if you are negative.
\nIf you are positive, counseling can help you in making important decisions about getting treatment and in finding out about community resources that may help you cope with having HIV.<\/p>\n

5. If you have HIV, you are not your disease<\/strong>
\nI just moved to ARTC, SCB Medical College &Hospital, Cuttack, Odisha; I often heard people with HIV there say something like, \u201cI\u2019m HIV.\u201d I think they meant that they have HIV, but it is also a subtle way of identifying with the disease. Having HIV is not a death sentence and HIV doesn\u2019t have to take over your life. If you get treatment and stay on it, you can have a productive and meaningful life that is centered on other things that matter to you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Why You Should Consider Getting Tested for HIV Did you know that about 2.1 million people in the India are living with HIV? “India has the third largest number of people living with HIV in the world \u2014 2.1 million at the end of 2013 \u2014 and accounts for about 4 out of 10 people<\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[8,7],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/utkalsevaksamaj.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/737"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/utkalsevaksamaj.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/utkalsevaksamaj.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utkalsevaksamaj.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utkalsevaksamaj.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=737"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/utkalsevaksamaj.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/737\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":740,"href":"https:\/\/utkalsevaksamaj.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/737\/revisions\/740"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/utkalsevaksamaj.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utkalsevaksamaj.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utkalsevaksamaj.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}