There are many places you can go for confidential and professional help in The Netherlands. Both for examination and treatment of STIs. These include: Your GP (huisarts), a GGD clinic (these are all over the country). You can find more information on: www.soaaids.nl/soacentra.html

There are many places you can go for confidential and professional information in The Netherlands. These include: Your GP (huisarts), a GGD clinic (these are all over the country), SOA AIDS/Info Helpline (0900  204 2040; 10cts per minute; 24 hours per day; also English spoken), http://www.life2live.nl/ and http://www.soaaids.nl/

Firstly it is very wise that you and/or your partner have taken the HIV or other STI test. Now you are informed and can make some choices. If one and not both of you have tested, then let the untested partner also get tested.

Once you know your status you should get yourself on treatment as soon as possible to avoid further complications, and further infection of others. If you are pregnant it is also very important to get on treatment as your unborn child could also get infected, or worse still die before or after birth.

Is your partner not informed about your infection, let him/her know so that he/she too can get tested and get treatment and/or advise on how to stay healthy. GGDs and other health providers can inform your sexual partners for you should you not want to do it yourself. This can also be done anonymously should you so wish.

Yes you can. There are measures that can dramatically reduce the risk of you passing on HIV to your baby.  The risk of mother-to-child transmission is as low as 2% in some areas such as in developed countries, and treatment possibilities have prolonged life expectancy for many potential parents with HIV.

You can reduce the risk for your baby by:

• Taking certain anti-HIV drugs during your pregnancy (the doctor will know which).
• Having an ‘elective caesarean'. This means not giving birth naturally but having your baby via a caesarean. For HIV positive women, this is often done in the 38^th week of pregnancy.
• Not breastfeeding your baby. The chance of you infecting your baby through breast milk can be as high as 8 out of 10. Do not breastfeed if you are HIV positive! Feed your baby formula from birth. Formula is often as healthy as mother's milk. If people ask why you do not breastfeed you can always say your baby does not want to (it is common knowledge that some babies refuse to breastfeed) or that you have no milk.

This refers to the length of time between the point of infection and the point when there are enough antibodies to be detected by a HIV test.

Tests commonly used to detect HIV infection look for the presence of antibodies that fight HIV. Most people develop detectable antibodies against the HIV virus within 3 months of infection. For a few number of people it could take longer, but in hardly any cases is this more that 6 months. If an HIV test is negative 3 months after a high risk experience, an individual should consult their medical provider to determine if the test should be repeated.

No it does not. An HIV infection can be detected by testing urine or a saliva because these two substances can contain anti-bodies of HIV, but not the HIV-virus itself. Anti-bodies are substances the body produces to fight a particular infection or disease it might be having. So if one has malaria, the body will produce malaria anti-bodies to fight it and get better.

This refers to always taking (HIV) medication precisely as prescribed by the doctor. Correct amount, combinations, times, with correct feeding and consistently. If it's twice every day, once at 7AM and once at 7PM, after a meal, then one does this without fail. There is a danger of the virus becoming resistant if one does not adhere to the doctors prescription, making the particular medication, and others that are similar to it, ineffective.

If you go on HIV medication, the doctor will advice you on what foods to eat, which medication(s) should be taking before or after meals, and which foods to avoid. Some medications should be taken after eating fatty foods, some with a lot of water and so on. It is important to follow the doctors instructions in order for the HIV medication to work properly, and in order to avoid the virus from developing resistance to particular medication.

This refers to infections that are not prevalent in people with healthy immune systems. This is because the immune systems of healthy people would be able to keep them away. These infections can however easily attack a person with HIV and cause damage because his/her immune system has been weekend by the virus, making it very difficult, and sometimes even impossible for the body to fight off the attack. This is why for instance people with HIV can die from tuberculosis (TB) or develop uncommon cancers such as Kaposi's Sarcoma

HIV seroconversion refers to the time between infection and development of HIV. It is the time  in which a person develops antibodies for HIV but does not yet test positive for it. Seroconversion means that your serostatus is converting from being HIV negative (not containing HIV antibodies) to being HIV positive (containing HIV antibodies).

Seroconversion usually occurs one to 3 months after infection but usually takes several months. It is for this reason that people are advised to have an HIV test 3 months after suspected exposure to the HIV virus. In very very few cases will the body take more that 3 months to develop HIV antibodies. Should want to be extra sure you can always have an additional HIV test after 6 months.

The only way to know if you are HIV-positive is through an HIV test. If you have recently been exposed to HIV, or think you may have been exposed to HIV, then contact a doctor or sexual health clinic.

Post-Exposure Prophylaxis refers to drugs given immediately following exposure to an infectious organism in an attempt to prevent the infection from taking hold in the body. In the case of HIV, the drugs are given in order to prevent infection with the HIV virus after exposure to the virus (for instance, if a condom tears during sex, after a rape, and so on). There is however no real evidence that PEP really works. Prevention of infection still remains the best option.

Resistance means that the HIV (or other) virus has adapted itself to a particular medication such that the medication is no longer effective. In the case of HIV medication, resistance can develop quite easily. This can for instance occur when there is an insufficient amount of medication in the body to prevent the virus from multiplying. This can be caused by not adhering to one's medical regime as prescribed by the doctor.

There are many places you can go for confidential and professional information in The Netherlands. These include: Your GP (huisarts), a GGD clinic (these are all over the country), SOA AIDS/Info Helpline (0900  204 2040; 10cts per minute; 24 hours per day; also English spoken), http://www.life2live.nl/ and http://www.soaaids.nl/

The fact that it is best to talk about condoms before having sex does not make it easier. Many people, even those who already have experience with having sex,  can be quite embarrassed by the topic of condoms.

The best time to bring up the topic of condoms is long before you're in a situation where you might need a condom. When people are caught up in the heat of the moment, it might be more difficult to say no or to think logically.

One idea to make speaking about condoms easier is to practice opening lines. Especially if you think your partner will object, work out your response ahead of time. Here are some possibilities:

• Your partner says: "It's uncomfortable."

You might answer this by suggesting a different brand or size.

• Your partner says: "It puts me right out of the mood."

Say that having unsafe sex puts you right out of the mood. Permanently.

• Your partner says: "If we really love each other, we should trust each other."

Say that it's because you love each other so much that you want to be sure you're both safe.

• Your partner says: "Are you nervous about catching something?"

The natural response: "Sometimes people don't even know when they have infections, so it's better to be safe."

• Your partner says: "I won't enjoy sex if we use a condom."

Say you can't enjoy sex unless it's safe.

• Your partner says: "I don't know how to put it on."

This one's easy: "Here, let me show you."

• Try bringing up the topic in a matter-of-fact way. You might mention that you've bought some condoms and checked them out. Offer to bring the unopened condoms along. Or suggest that your partner buy his or her favourite brand (make sure to bring some of yours with you, just to be on the safe side). Offer to try different types of condoms to find which works best for both of you.

• Make it clear that you won't have sex without a condom.

Firstly it is very wise that you and/or your partner have taken the HIV or other STI test. Now you are informed and can make some choices. If one and not both of you have tested, then let the untested partner also get tested.

Once you know your status you should get yourself on treatment as soon as possible to avoid further complications, and further infection of others. If you are pregnant it is also very important to get on treatment as your unborn child could also get infected, or worse still die before or after birth.

Is your partner not informed about your infection, let him/her know so that he/she too can get tested and get treatment and/or advise on how to stay healthy. GGDs and other health providers can inform your sexual partners for you should you not want to do it yourself. This can also be done anonymously should you so wish.

If you go on HIV medication, the doctor will advice you on what foods to eat, which medication(s) should be taking before or after meals, and which foods to avoid. Some medications should be taken after eating fatty foods, some with a lot of water and so on. It is important to follow the doctors instructions in order for the HIV medication to work properly, and in order to avoid the virus from developing resistance to particular medication.