Let’s Stop HIV Together

Let’s stop HIV together. Get the facts, get tested and get involved.

The campaign gives voice to people living with HIV from all walks of life, alongside their friends and family members. As part of the campaign, these individuals share their personal stories and call on everyone to join the fight against the disease.

Let’s Stop HIV Together highlights the fact that HIV touches every corner of American society and that people with the infection are part of the fabric of our families and valued members of our communities.

Singer Jamar Rogers with his mother, Danielle

Individuals featured in the Let’s Stop HIV Together campaign, including singer Jamar Rogers from “The Voice” and Regan Hofmann, editor in chief of POZ magazine, share their stories to champion the power of relationships in the personal and public fight to stop HIV.

More stories are available on the Let’s Stop HIV Together Web site.

More than three decades after the first reported AIDS cases, HIV is still a crisis in the United States. Approximately 50,000 Americans become newly infected each year, and an estimated 1.1 million people are now living with HIV. Yet, nearly one in five of these individuals does not know that they are infected.

Click here to watch Jamar’s story

• Learn the basics about HIV and AIDS and learn how to prevent HIV and take steps to protect yourself and others. Talk about what you learn with your friends and other people who are important to you.
• Empower even more people via social media. Share the HIV Basics page and your new knowledge with your Facebook and Twitter friends.

Get Tested

According to CDC, nearly one in five persons with HIV doesn’t know he or she is infected, and can pass the virus on to others without knowing it. Getting an HIV test, knowing your HIV status, and encouraging your friends, family, and community to do the same are important steps in preventing the spread of HIV.

Talk with your friends and family about getting tested and protecting themselves. CDC recommends that everyone between the ages of 13 and 64 be tested for HIV at least once as part of routine health care. Testing once a year (or more) is recommended for people at higher risk of HIV infection, such as those who are gay, bisexual, men who have sex with men (MSM), injection drug users, or people with multiple sex partners.

Here are three good reasons for you to get an HIV test.

Dena (right) with her daughter, Kandace

1. Finding out early can help you live a longer, healthier life. There are treatments now that are available to you that can keep you healthy. You can find support, so that you stay connected to care.
2. If you know, you can protect yourself—and the people you love. The earlier you know, the more you can do. There’s new hope today for stopping HIV. Medicines (antiretroviral therapy or ART) can lower the level of virus in the body. ART helps people with HIV live longer, healthier lives and also lowers the chances of passing HIV to others. Knowing early enables you to help yourself and to protect others. Studies have shown that when people find out they have HIV, they are also more likely to take steps to protect their health and that of their partners.
3. It’s easy. It’s free, fast, and confidential. Many clinics and testing locations in your area offer free HIV tests. You can even get confidential or anonymous HIV tests. To find out where you can get a free HIV test in your area, do one of the following:
   • Use the site locator at http://hivtest.cdc.gov. Enter your ZIP code, and the locator will find a testing site near you.
   • Text your local ZIP code to “KNOWIT” (566948), and you will receive a text back with a testing site near you.
   • Call 800–CDC–INFO (800–232–4636) to ask for free testing sites in your area.

Regan (left) with her sister, Tracy

Get Involved

A little help can go a long way! You can make a difference! Here are some easy tips, suggestions, and resources that you and your friends and family can use to help prevent HIV.

Share Your Story—Together We Can Stop HIV!

Are you or someone you know affected by HIV? Are you working to fight it? Tell us your story! There are stories like those featured on this site from all around the country, and we want to read them! Submit your story and check back regularly for new postings.

Support a Person Living with HIV/AIDS

When participants of this campaign were asked how friends, partners, co-workers, or people in their community can support people living with HIV or encourage others to stay HIV negative, their answers were always the same. Talk. Listen. Support.

Christopher (left) with his partner, Rique

• Talk. Have open, honest conversations about staying safe and healthy.
• Listen. Sometimes, having someone listen to the challenges people living with HIV face is just what is needed.
• Support. Discuss any special needs and help provide support to meet those needs.

Campaign Materials

Visit the Let’s Stop HIV Together Web site for materials that you can use in your community to help raise awareness about the impact of HIV, the importance of HIV prevention and testing, the effects of stigma, and how we can work together to increase support for people living with HIV.

Videos

• CDC’s Let’s Stop HIV Together Campaign Video
• Singer Jamar Rogers Personal Story Video

Let’s Stop HIV Together. Get the Facts. Get Tested. Get Involved.

The Let’s Stop HIV Together campaign is a part of CDC’s 5-year Act Against AIDS campaign, which was launched in 2009 by the White House, the Department of Health and Human Services and CDC.