2.5. Prevention

HIV prevention is one of the key elements in the fight against the spread of the virus. There are several key areas in which preventive measures are undertaken to reduce the incidence of HIV infection:

1. Increasing awareness about safe sex, condoms, treatment of sexually transmitted diseases, and teaching behavior aimed at the conscious treatment of these diseases.
2. Organization of testing for HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
3. Control over the process of blood preparations.
4. Providing medical assistance to pregnant women with a positive HIV status, prescribing them chemoprophylaxis agents (in the last trimester of pregnancy and childbirth, women should receive antiretroviral therapy, which is also prescribed to newborns in the first months of life), a birth by Cesarean section and avoidance of breastfeeding.
5. Risk reduction among injectable drug users: an explanation of the ways to prevent HIV infection, the distribution of disposable syringes, popularization of methadone maintenance treatment.
6. The use of antiretroviral therapy in order to prevent viral exposure of people without HIV. There are two types of such prevention: pre-exposure prophylaxis when medication is taken prior to exposure to the HIV virus and post-exposure prophylaxis when medication is taken immediately after possible exposure.