Is there a cure?

HIV medication can slow the progress of the virus

No, there is no " cure" for AIDS. There are several approved drug treatments that seem to slow the growth of the HIV viruses (which causes AIDS), and seem to slow the progress of the AIDS disease. So far, these are imperfect for several reasons; they don't work for everyone, they have serious side effects, and the virus is "learning" to overcome these drugs. Worryingly, surveys show that many people think that there's a 'cure' for AIDS - which makes them feel safer, and perhaps take risks that they otherwise shouldn't. These people are wrong, there is still no cure for AIDS.

There is still NO cure for AIDS. Although scientists continue to research the disease, there isn't a vaccine yet either - and there probably won't be for another 10 or even 20 years. Once infected, there is no way to get the virus out of your body. However, there are some drugs which help to slow down the damage HIV does to your immune system and therefore slow down the onset of AIDS. There are also other drugs to prevent or treat some of the opportunistic infections (OIs) that affect people with HIV/AIDS.

Currently the most successful treatments are combination or "cocktail" therapies, where HIV patients take a range of different antiretroviral drugs such as reverse transcriptase inhibitors (like AZT) and protease inhibitors (like Amprenavir). But these drugs are extremely expensive and unavailable in many parts of the world. They can also cause a number of difficult side effects and for about 20% of patients they do not work at all. Don't be complacent - improved treatments do not mean that HIV/AIDS has become a manageable condition.

HIV is a constantly changing and mutating virus and if doses of medication are missed, infected people can become immune to the very drugs they are taking. This can seriously limit future treatment options. If you are HIV positive, the most important thing is to lead a healthy life and take good care of your body by eating well and exercising.

There is antiretroviral medication which slows the progression from HIV to AIDS, and which can keep some people healthy for many years. In some cases, the antiretroviral medication seems to stop working after a number of years, in other cases people can recover from AIDS and live with HIV for decades. But they have to take powerful medication every day of their lives, sometimes with very unpleasant side-effects.
But there is still no way to cure HIV, and at the moment the only way to remain safe is not to become infected.