Living with HIV

HIV and your health

People with HIV can grow old and healthy just like people without HIV. The sooner you start taking medication, the better it is for your health. This way the impact of HIV on your body can be limited:

• In most cases, 1 pill a day is enough
• A doctor and a nurse, both specialised in HIV, keep your health under control
• The medication makes sure you won’t get sick anymore
• And you can no longer pass on HIV

A healthy lifestyle is important if you have HIV. It’s better to quit smoking. 
More information about healthy living with HIV is available on Hivvereniging.nl.

HIV consultant

An HIV consultant is a nurse that is specialised in HIV. Your HIV consultant can help you learn how to deal with HIV. For example, they can help you take your medication properly. You can also talk to your consultant about your feelings, relationships, and concerns about sex.

Help with sadness 

Perhaps sometimes you feel sad, or anxious, or lonely. This doesn’t have to be connected to HIV. Your GP and your HIV consultant can help you with this. You can also get help from a psychologist. Conversations or exercises will make you feel better again.

Financial support

Humanitas can help people with HIV and a low income. This way it becomes easier to live a healthy life with HIV. Sometimes you can get financial support, if you can’t get help any other way.

Read more about support from Humanitas (in Dutch)

HIV and your relationship

Do you have HIV and a relationship? Or does your partner have HIV? You can enjoy sex and each other’s company without having to worry in one of the following ways:

If you have HIV or your partner does 

There are different ways you can make sure to not give or get HIV to each other:

• HIV medication: does one of you have HIV? By taking HIV medication, the HIV positive person can’t pass it on to the other partner. This way you don’t need to use a condom during sex. Read more about HIV treatment
• PrEP: does your partner have HIV and are you afraid of getting infected? Then you can take PrEP. This is medication that protects you from HIV infection. This way you don’t need to use a condom during sex. Read more about PrEP
• Condoms: you can also use condoms. This greatly reduces the chance of HIV transmission.

If you also have sex with other partners

Do you both also have sex with other people? If so, it’s good to protect yourselves and each other from HIV and other STIs. To do so:

• Use condoms
• Take PrEP to avoid HIV infection
• Get tested for STIs 2 times a year, so you can know for sure whether you have STIs or not. Read how to get tested for STIs

Do you have HIV? Make sure to always take your HIV medication. This way you won’t pass it on.

Hiv Vereniging

The Hiv Vereniging stands up for people with HIV. Hiv Vereniging offers plenty of useful information and support, such as: 

• Activity calendar: activities for people with HIV
• FAQ: answers to the most frequently asked questions about U=U (in Dutch)
• Medical news: new medical developments about HIV (in Dutch)
• Personal videos: what is the impact of HIV on your relationship?
• Service point: first-hand experts answer questions about living with HIV
• Hiv Vereniging blog: in-depth reports, current affairs, and opinions about HIV (in Dutch)

Other websites

You can also check out the following websites:

• jongpositief.nl: for people under 30 with HIV (in Dutch)
• Poz & Proud: made by and for gay men with HIV (in Dutch)
• PrEPnu: current information about PrEP, curated by and for the community