Advocacy means communication with policy makers and opinion makers to influence their behavior through various forms of persuasive communication.

The mother is prescribed a single dose of Nevirpine at the onset of labor and an oral dose to the newborn child within 72 hours of birth. The mother is advised to have a caesarian operation and is also advised not to breastfeed the baby for which other formula baby food are prescribed.

HIV/AIDS affects the most productive age group in a country and hence has several direct and indirect social and economic costs on the society. Hence the involvement of different sectors of the government, NGOs, and other social groups is very essentially in a coordinated manner in pooling resources in preventive work is required. This is being explained as intersectoral collaboration.

A KABP study/survey is at the heart of knowing the target audience. It stands for knowledge/skills that the target audience knows about program specific topics, attitudes i.e. what does the target audience feel about attitudes, beliefs i.e. what does the target audience believe about a program activity such as- condoms, practices i.e. what are the behavioral display of the target audience.

The basic behaviors are: the A, B, C, D of safe sex which stand for :
A- abstaining from penetrative sex,
B. being faithful to one's sexual partner(reciprocal),
C. use of condoms during sex consistently,
D. delaying sexual debut of adolescents, reducing the number of partners ; not using unclean needles.

It is a process by which an individual changes an attitude or behavior due to the knowledge gained, through exposure and personal experience.

Communication is the ability to organize and express ideas in writing and in speaking which involves the transfer of information. It is the attempt to bring about a common understanding. It is synonymous with the term IEC which stands for information, education and communication.

A change in behavior is usually preceded by a change in knowledge and in attitude. Communication is the process that brings in information and presents it depending on the audience level and their state of motivation.

HIV stands for Human Immuno - deficiency Virus. It is the name of the virus that causes AIDS. Viruses are the smallest and simplest living organisms. They are so small that they cannot be seen under a light microscope. One requires an electron microscope to see them. HIV causes reduction of body's capability to fight against various infections in human body. It makes the body weak and sick.

The word AIDS stands for Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome. AIDS is a medical diagnosis for a combination of symptoms, which results from a breakdown of the immune system. 'A' stands for acquired which means that it is obtained or received by a person and is something, which is not genetically inherited. 'ID' stands for Immuno Deficiency which means there is deficiency in the immune system or that the immune system is weakened. 'S' stands for syndrome that stands to emphasize that AIDS is not just one disease or symptom but presents as a group of diseases or symptoms.

The immune system carries out the body's defense against infections produced by pathogenic (disease-causing) agents and it also destroys or eliminates foreign bodies. It is now known that HIV erodes the immune system by killing the cells, which compose it. The more cells that die as a result of HIV infection, the more difficult the body's struggle against infection becomes.

The cells that HIV preferentially attacks are known as CD4 cells or T4 lymphocytes. They are the most important cells for the body's defense. A count of these cells in the blood also serves as an index for monitoring the infection's progress: as infection progresses, the number of these cells lowers.

In persons who have AIDS, infections that occur as a result of HIV infection are also known as "opportunistic" because they are contracted only when the immune system fails to function adequately and the ability to fight disease-causing agents has been lost.   

HIV is the virus that causes AIDS. In other words HIV is the reason and AIDS is the result.

The AIDS virus is not a single entity, but consists of a number of strains that can be grouped into two distinct types, HIV -1 and HIV -2. HIV -2 is less virulent and is mostly restricted to populations in West and Central Africa. Although HIV -1 and HIV -2 are genetically distinct, they are related.

In the early 1980s it was demonstrated that AIDS results from an infection with HIV-1, the human immunodeficiency virus. Based on comparisons of HIV sequences from various sources, the origin of the AIDS virus can be pinpointed to Africa in the 1930s. These comparisons reveal that the earliest sample of HIV is from a blood sample drawn from an African in 1959. 

HIV-1 was identified in 1993 by Dr. Robert Gallo and other medical scientists at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland. At about the same time, Dr. Luc Montagnier of the Pasteur Institute in Paris isolated HIV-2 from AIDS patients. These two HIV viruses are distinguishable by their genome make-up today, but are believed to have had a common ancestor in Africa. Scientists think that HIV-2 was transmitted to humans from a simian source, probably the sooty mangabeys that are hunted for food in Senegal, Guinea, the Ivory Coast and Gambia.

HIV-1, which is much more lethal, is most closely related to SIVcpz, Simian Immunodeficiency Virus, and was transmitted from the Central African Chimpanzee, Pan troglodytes troglodytes. HIV-1 mutates very rapidly, and Simian Immunodeficiency Virus crossed over to humans (on at least three separate occasions) as Human Immunodeficiency Virus. As the result of mutation, 11 different subtypes of HIV-1 have been identified, and are designated as A through K.

HIV may be found in the blood cells, bodily fluids, and secretions of infected persons in varying quantities at different times. For instance, HIV may be easily isolated in semen, vaginal secretions, and blood. It also has been isolated in breast milk. The virus is transmitted from infected person to others through blood, semen, vaginal secretions, and breast milk.

HIV may be transmitted by

• Unprotected penetrative sex with an infected person
• Transfusion of infected blood from one person to another
• Through the use of un-sterilized needles and syringes
• From an infected mother to her child 

Through Unprotected Penetrative Sex

Sexual contact with an infected person is the most commonly found mode of HIV transmission till date, especially through unprotected sex, which stands for any sexual act involving penetration without a condom.

• One could get infected with HIV if he/she has sex with an infected man / woman without taking proper protection.
• One might get infected at the very first time he/she indulges in sex if the partner is already carrying the infection.
• If one indulges into sex with many partners, he/she has a high chance of getting infected with HIV as in that case, it becomes a tough task to know whether the partner is already infected or not. 

Through Infected blood

HIV can enter the body when blood that contain HIV is given to a person through blood transfusion.

Through Infected Needle

This mode of transmission includes the use of contaminated needles and syringes, transfusions involving HIV-infected blood, and transplants involving HIV-infected organs and tissues.

When an infected person injects intravenous drugs, the needle and the syringe used become contaminated with infected blood. If another person uses these implements without sterilizing them, the HIV-contaminated blood of the first user enters the bloodstream of the second.

HIV can also enter the body when sharp tools used to cut the skin (such as ear piercing) are not cleaned and sterilized properly.

From infected mother to the child

The chances of passing HIV to child from infected mother before or during birth are about one in four, or 25 percent, for each pregnancy while the mother is already infected to the virus.

The virus can be transmitted from infected mother to child

• During pregnancy
• During birth
• During breast-feeding

There are about 30 percent chances of passing the HIV infection from a mother to her child through breast milk.

It has three phases:

Window Period (Asymptomatic Stage): After the virus enters into body, it takes about 3-6 months to be detected by a blood test. This period during which the presence of HIV antibodies are not detectable in the blood is called a window period. During this period, a person may pass on the infection to others unknowingly. Or the person may pass on the infection if he has already tested his blood within three months after the exposure and has found to be negative.

Symptomatic Stage: After the window period is over, the virus start attacking the body's immune system. At this stage, the presence of HIV in the body manifests with some symptoms in the form of many opportunistic infections like flu, fever, diarrhea or tuberculosis. Most of them get cured after treatment. But the disease goes on progressing in the body rapidly depending on the personal hygiene, habits and nutritional status of the infected person.

Full-blown AIDS Stage: At this stage, the virus has completely overridden the body's immune system and many opportunistic infections occur repeatedly, or together. Some people develop AIDS a few years after becoming infected with HIV. Some people can be infected with HIV for 10 years or longer without developing AIDS.

After the window period is over, the virus start destroying the body's immune system. At this stage, the presence of HIV in the body presents with some symptoms in the form of many opportunistic infections like flu, fever, diarrhea or tuberculosis. Most of them get cured after treatment. But the disease goes on progressing in the body rapidly depending on personal hygiene, habits and nutritional status.

Primary HIV infection is the first stage of HIV disease, when the virus first establishes itself in the body. Some researchers use the term acute HIV infection to describe the period of time between when a person is first infected with HIV and when antibodies against the virus are produced by the body (usually 6- 12 weeks).

Some people newly infected with HIV experience some "flu-like" symptoms. These symptoms, which usually last no more than a few days, might include fevers, chills, night sweats and rashes (not cold-like symptoms). Other people either do not experience "acute infection," or have symptoms so mild that they may not notice them.

Given the general character of the symptoms of acute infection, they can easily have causes other than HIV, such as a flu infection. For example, if one had some risk for HIV a few days ago and are now experiencing flu-like symptoms, it might be possible that HIV is responsible for the symptoms, but it is also possible that he/she has some other viral infection.

A positive HIV test result means that the individual concerned is infected with HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), the virus that causes AIDS (Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome). Being infected with HIV does not mean that one gets AIDS right at the moment. However, if left untreated, HIV infection damages a person's immune system and can progress to AIDS soon.

Testing positive for HIV means that one carries the virus that causes AIDS. It does not mean that he/ she has AIDS, nor does it mean that the individual will die. Although there is no cure for AIDS, many opportunistic infections that make people sick can be controlled, prevented or eliminated. This has substantially increased the longevity and quality of life for people living with AIDS.