HIV and AIDS Awareness Month takes place in December to educate people about the conditions, remember those who have died and celebrate victories in achieving new medical treatments and overcoming stigmas related to the disease. According to AIDS. gov, 1 million Americans are living with the disease. Chances are, some of your employees may be battling the illness or are caring for someone who is.This Meeting in a Box is a valuable tool to help you and your workforce learn and have candid discussions about HIV and AIDS, and begin to dispel myths surrounding them. In this packet, we provide a basic primer on what HIV and AIDS are, a timeline of historic events and medical breakthroughs surrounding the illnesses, facts and figures on Americans living with the conditions and an info sheet that dispels stereotypes, myths and fears surrounding them.
Click HERE to download a PDF version of the HIV/AIDS Awareness Month Meeting in a Box, our diversity-management professional development and educational tool available only to Benchmarking customers and Fair360 Enterprise subscribers.
1. PRIMER: WHAT IS HIV/AIDS?
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a virus that attacks the body’s immune cells — the cells that fight infection. Because HIV weakens the immune system, it makes a person more vulnerable to other infections. HIV can be spread by contact with certain bodily fluids, so it is spread most commonly during unprotected sex or through sharing dirty needles, such as those used to inject drugs. Untreated HIV can cause acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), where the body’s immune system is severely damaged because of the virus. Without HIV medicine, people with AIDS typically have a life expectancy of around three years. If someone with AIDS develops an opportunistic infection (OI) — an infection that takes advantage of a weakened immune system — their life expectancy falls to about one year.
