Faq_2003_e

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT HIV/AIDS Are there risks of getting
HIV if I drink or use drugs?
Yes! Alcohol or drugs won’t infect you with HIV, but taking risks while you’re drunk The Canadian HIV/AIDS Information
Centre, a program of the Canadian
When you drink or use drugs, you may not make the same decisions as you would Public Health Association (CPHA),
provides information resources on
when not under the influence. For example, you may not bother to use protection HIV prevention, care and treatment
as wel as a range of other
during sex. Having unprotected sex is a common way of getting HIV.
HIV/AIDS information.
These resources are provided primarily to You may also take the risk of sharing a needle to inject drugs. About one quarter of all new HIV infections occur among people who inject drugs. This is due to the invisible amounts of blood that are in the needle or syringe (or other injection equipment such as cookers, water, cotton filters, straws and pipes). If you use the advice of a health professional. Decisions same needle as someone who is infected with HIV, you shoot her/his infected update our material regularly, users should Remember that poppers (nitrite inhalants) and Viagra® increase blood flow by dilating the blood vessels in the pelvic area, making the skin of the vagina and anus Information Centre may not necessarily be the most current information available.
thinner and weaker, and therefore easier to tear. Tiny tears in these tissues make it inaccuracies or typographical errors.
easier for viruses to enter your bloodstream, increasing your risk for HIV infection.
information herein: these changes will be How can I protect myself if I choose to drink or inject drugs?
specific questions relating to your health.
We urge users to consult a broad range of limit drinking or drug taking before sex—this way, you are more likely to take on this information do so entirely at their CPHA do not accept any responsibility for if you are going to be drinking or injecting drugs, bring latex or polyurethane condoms (or other protective barriers) and/or clean needles with you (condoms and needles can often be obtained for free from your local public necessarily reflect the official policies or practice safer sex (see Question 11 “How can I have sex more safely?”) practice “safer needle use”—use a new needle and new supplies each time you inject drugs; don’t share any injection drug equipment.
Production of this document has been made possible by a financial contribution from the Canadian Strategy on HIV/AIDS, Health Canada If I must re-use drug-injecting equipment,
how do I reduce the risk of infection?
You can reduce the risk of infection by cleaning your needle and syringe:
Fill syringe with clean water, shake it for 30 seconds and empty it. Throw Fill syringe with bleach, shake it for 30 seconds and empty it. Repeat.
Fill syringe with clean water again, shake it for 30 seconds and empty it.
Remember, needle cleaning with bleach may reduce your risk for HIV infection, but other viruses like hepatitis may not be killed by bleach. Do not re-use needles For more information, contact your local AIDS service organization or health
care practitioner.
For more copies of this fact sheet or other documents on HIV/AIDS, contact the
Canadian HIV/AIDS Information Centre, 400-1565 Carling Avenue, Ottawa, ON K1Z 8R1
1 877-999-7740 5 613-725-1205
Published by the Canadian HIV/AIDS Information Centre, a program of the Canadian Public Health Association.
Based on material original y created by the Information Centre for the Canadian Health Network. Revised andUpdated March 2002. Permission is granted for non-commercial reproduction for educational purposes.
For more information on HIV/AIDS or for local services, contact:

Source: http://www.polyvalence.ca/pdf/e/HIV6.pdf