One in two Poles infected with HIV has never taken a test and still doesn't know he or she is infected with the dangerous virus. Risky sexual behavior is a dangerous game that can leave a lifelong mark warn organizers of the latest public awareness campaign to draw attention to the problem and encourage free and anonymous HIV testing.

Do you like to take risks? See if you've won. A perverse campaign by the Institute for Patients' Rights and Health Education is designed to draw attention to the problem of alarming HIV infection statistics and encourage people to take tests to rule out or confirm infection. As part of the campaign, posters aimed at men and women were created in urban spaces, referring to the dangerous game of risky sexual behavior, in which instead of winning, one can be infected with the dangerous virus and lose one's health as a result. A website was also created www.testnahiv.pl, which features basic information about the virus and practical advice on living with infection or AIDS. The campaign will appear in urban spaces, the press and the Internet starting this November.

Eastern Europe more than Africa. Contrary to popular belief, the HIV problem is no longer exclusive to Africa. The UN is sounding the alarm that it is now Europe and not the Black Continent that is facing the biggest challenge of increasing new HIV infections in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

The latest epidemiological data are alarming. In the past few years alone, the number of those infected with the virus has doubled, reaching nearly 37 million people worldwide and about 35,000 in Poland. The disease is still a taboo subject, and the fear of it is so great that instead of getting tested and being sure, we prefer to think that the problem does not affect us. It is estimated that about 50 percent of HIV-infected Poles are still unaware of it and may unknowingly infect others. This is the highest such percentage in the European Union.

„Until recently, it seemed that we had coped with HIV infections. The medical advances that have been made have allowed a change in thinking about the disease, which, while still fatal, has taken on the characteristics of a chronic disease. However, while medicine has done well with diagnosis and treatment, we still have not dealt with the virus in the social space. HIV and AIDS seem to have become taboo topics all over again and the lack of knowledge, in turn, causes most people to have the misconception that the problem does not affect them. As a result, they don't get tested and live with HIV for many years, engaging in risky behavior infecting more people. says Rev. Arkadiusz Nowak, president of the Institute for Patients' Rights and Health Education, which has been involved in AIDS prevention and relief for years.

Any sexual contact is risky. Eighty percent of HIV infections arise from risky sexual contact. In fact, any sexual contact is risky, because we can never be sure if a person is infected with the virus or not.

Contrary to popular belief, they also affect people in stable relationships. First, it is very rare for partners to get tested before cohabitation, and they may be infected from previous relationships. Second, with infidelity on the rise, even in a steady relationship we may be at risk of HIV infection.

Time is of the essence. Early detection of HIV infection is not without impact on treatment outcomes. Today, medicine is getting better at dealing with the virus, with some people living with HIV for 20 or even 30 years. However, the best results are obtained in patients who undergo treatment soon after infection. This is because the idea is to quickly reduce the multiplication of the virus and damage to the immune system.

Where and when to take the test. HIV tests are performed free of charge, without referral and anonymously, along with competent counseling at consultation and diagnostic centers (HCPs), which can be found, among others, on the campaign website www.testnahiv.pl

The timing of the test is important. It should be taken at the earliest three months after the risky behavior. The (so-called screening) test involves drawing a small amount of blood. It is not necessary to be fasting before it. The result, depending on the diagnostic point, is available the next day or after a few days.

The originator and organizer of the campaign „Do you like risk? Check if you won” is Institute for Patient Rights and Health Education. The agency responsible for the creation of the campaign is DEDADI, and media buying media house Media People. 

The honorary patron of the campaign is National Aids Center and Chief Sanitary Inspectorate. The main partner of the campaign is Gilead Poland and the partners are GSK and Janssen. The media partner is The Point.