Protect yourself from HIV: Use condoms correctly every time you have sex, use pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) if you believe you are likely to be exposed to HIV, and avoid sharing drug injection equipment.
Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is an HIV medicine taken by people who do not have HIV that reduces the risk of getting HIV from sex by about 99% and from injection drug use by at least 74%.
Although PrEP protects against HIV during sex without a condom or if a condom fails, it does not protect against other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) an
Perinatal transmission of HIV means passing HIV from mother to child during pregnancy, childbirth (also called labor and delivery), or breastfeeding (through breast milk).
All pregnant women with HIV should take HIV medicines throughout pregnancy for their own health, to prevent perinatal transmission of HIV to the baby, and to prevent HIV transmission to sexual partners. (HIV medicines are called antiretrovirals).
When available, a preventive HIV vaccine will be given to people who do not have HIV, with the goal of preventing HIV infection if they are exposed to the virus.