Preventing the spread of HIV, particularly among teens and young adults, is a public health priority.
Preventing HIV is a critical step in the response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Over time, various tools and strategies have been made available to prevent HIV, both as individual methods and in combination with others.

Stop HIV Stigma Short Videos: Nestor and Rosanne: Brother and sister duo Nestor and Rosanne share how people can help end stigma in their community.
Today, more tools than ever are available to prevent HIV. This video answers important questions about HIV prevention.

Condoms

Using condoms correctly and consistently is very successful at preventing HIV. Because HIV can be spread with a single sex act, condoms must be used correctly every single time throughout the entire duration of sex to provide maximum protection.

Testing

Testing is important for preventing HIV because it enables people to have knowledge of their HIV status and make informed decisions about their sexual behavior.
When people test positive for HIV, they can be linked to HIV treatment and care, both protecting their health and preventing the spread of the virus to people who do not have it (also known as “treatment as prevention”). Getting tested for other STIs is another important step in HIV prevention– having an STI can increase your chance of getting HIV if you are exposed to the virus.

• This animated video explains the reasons why you should get tested for HIV.
• Doing It — Make HIV Testing Part of Your Health Routine: Yoel encourages all of us to get tested for HIV routinely, even if it’s not with our primary care doctors.
• Doing It — HIV Testing Can Be Fast & Simple: Antonius explains how easy and simple it can be to get tested for HIV.
• This animated video helps you understand your HIV self-test result and better understand your HIV prevention and treatment options. HIV self-tests allow you to test in the privacy of your own space and get results in as little as 20 minutes.

PrEP

• Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a medication that is highly effective at preventing HIV when taken as prescribed. This HIV prevention medication is for people who want to take responsibility for their sexual health. PrEP is safe and works for youth, adults, people of all gender identities and sexual orientations, and people who use or inject drugs.
• PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) is medicine people take to prevent getting HIV from sex or injection drug use. This video provides information about PrEP.

Not Having Sex (Abstinence)

• Abstinence is the only method that is 100% effective at reducing the spread of HIV through sex.

Treatment as Prevention (TasP)

• People living with HIV should start treatment as soon as possible after receiving a diagnosis. When taken as prescribed, HIV medication (also known as antiretroviral therapy, or ART) can reduce the amount of HIV in the body to such a low level that a blood test cannot detect it. When HIV reaches this very low level in the body (also known as an undetectable viral load), a person living with HIV can stay healthy because the virus will not affect their health or immune system. When a person living with HIV gets and keeps an undetectable viral load, they cannot transmit HIV to other people through sex.

  This is why HIV treatment is a prevention method: when a person living with HIV remains undetectable, there is effectively no risk of spreading HIV to people who do not have HIV. This concept is also known by the phrase “undetectable = untransmutable” or U=U.

Bronx Community Resources

• Aids Healthcare Foundation (AHF)
• Iris House
• Destination Tomorrow
• Thrive BX (Sun River Health)
• Argus Community
• Oasis Latino LGBTQ Wellness Center
• NYC Teens Connection

Resources For Teens And Young Adults

• Fact-based education about HIV helps young people make informed decisions to take care of their own sexual health. Let’s Stop HIV Together: Matthew’s Story
• This video provides information about HIV testing, prevention, and treatment.

KABI Chronicles: The Edge | A Motion Comic Series | NPIN Information for Teens: Staying Healthy and Preventing STDs. It’s Your Future, You can Protect it

• “KABI Chronicles” is a comic-based video series that provides young people with engaging educational content about HIV and STDs.
• The “Staying Healthy and Preventing STDs” overview, written by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, provides teens with information necessary to make healthy and informed decisions regarding sex. It summarizes information about STDs, methods for having safer sex, testing, and treatment services.

Substance use, which includes alcohol, marijuana (weed), and opioid misuse, can have short and long term consequences for teens and young adults. These age groups are periods of intense brain development that make them more vulnerable to the toxic effects of substances. In addition to damaging parts of the body like the brain, lungs, and liver, substance use is related to unintended outcomes. Unintended outcomes may include early pregnancy, contracting STIs/ HIV, and injury. Using substances early in life also increases the likelihood of developing substance use disorders (SUDs).

• What is Drug and Alcohol Addiction?

This period of development also serves as an optimal period for preventing and reducing substance use! Families and communities have a role in helping teens choose not to drink or use substances. Families and communities can act as a support system for those who need help reducing their substance use or treating their substance use disorder.

• How to say no when friends offer you drugs and alcohol?

Bronx Community Resources for Substance Use

• Argus Community
• Thrive BX (Sun River Health)
• Oasis Latino LGBTQ Wellness Center
• VNS Health
• OnPoint NYC

Resources for Teens and Young Adults

• Alcohol
  What is Alcohol? Facts & Effects of Drinking | NIDA for Teens
• This article provides a quick summary about the effects alcohol can have on your body and some of the dangers of underage drinking. It’s part of a series created by the National Institutes of Health to provide teens with facts and resources regarding their questions on drugs and their effects. The “Myths versus Facts” sheet also debunks some misconceptions teens may have about drinking, including the myth that most young people drink alcohol.Since drinking is considered socially acceptable, many people may not even realize they have a problem at first. Granite Recovery Centers developed a guide that will help you recognize alcohol addiction as the first steps toward improving your life.Understanding alcohol misuse

  This is the first in an educational series of seven videos detailing alcohol’s effects on the developing brain. This video serves as an overview to introduce how the brain works, what neurotransmission is, and how alcohol negatively impairs regular function and development.

How Alcohol Affects Your Developing Brain

• Opioids
  Prescription Pain Medications (Opioids) | NIDA for Teens
  Although opioid misuse among teens has decreased over the past decade, it still poses a large danger for teens who do misuse these pain medications. Part of the series written by the National Institutes of Health for teens, this article on opioids answers questions teens may have about opioid use and its dangers. Along with the tip sheet, these resources provide a fact-based overview on how opioids affect the body and the brain. Signs of an opioid use disorder

• Marijuana
  Marijuana Facts For Teens
  This guide and tip sheet provide research-based facts so you can make informed decisions and smart choices. The guide, provided by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, supplies a quick overview of marijuana research and responds to popular questions asked by teens and young adults.

HIV and substance use generally has a larger impact on teens and young adults, LGBTQI+ communities, and racial/ethnic minorities. These health disparities, or gaps in positive health outcomes among groups of people, are larger for those at the intersection of these communities (being a part of many of these communities). Latinx and Black gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men aged 13-24 are one such intersecting group.

Young Latinx and Black gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men are unevenly impacted by HIV diagnoses, lower HIV treatment outcomes, and often expierence substance use behavior. As racial and sexual minorities, these disparities can partly be accounted for by the stigma, homophobia, and racism that these communities face. Discriminatory experiences create various barriers to accessing HIV and substance use prevention and treatment services. These barriers can exist within the household, community, or even clinical settings. Along with highlighting the need to challenge these forms of inequality, these disparities highlight the importance of HIV and substance use prevention for this community.

For these reasons, NYCC4H is modeled to uplift the voices and strengths of young Latinx and Black gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men living in the Bronx, NY. We tailor our program and prioritize services to address their specific HIV and substance use prevention needs.

HIV Prevention – Let’s Talk About PEP : This animation provides basic information on Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP). PEP means taking medicine to prevent HIV after a possible exposure. PEP should be used only in emergency situations and must be started within 72 hours after recent possible exposure to HIV. This animation explains what PEP is, when and if it’s right for you, how to access PEP, how it works, what to expect, and how to pay for it.

Resources for Teens & Young Adults

• Bronx Community Resources for LGBTQI+ Youth and Young Adults
  • Thrive BX (Sun River Health)
  • Oasis Latino LGBTQ Wellness Center
• Sex and Substance Abuse
  National Aids Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
  • Using drugs can decrease your ability to make informed decisions about sex and sexual protection methods, placing you at an increased risk for getting viral infections like HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. This guide focuses on HIV and viral hepatitis, two viral infections associated with drug use.

Choosing the right school is vital for every college bound student, but it can be more challenging for those who identify as LGBTQ+. In addition to many obstacles that all students face, it is important that LGBTQ+ students also consider whether the institution has LGBTQ-inclusive policies, programs, and practices to ensure a safe and inclusive learning environment. 

 Intelligent.com Higher Education Team has developed a guide that provides prospective students and their families with tools to identify the right schools, an overview of common challenges, tips for applying, and details on the federal laws that protect LGBTQ students.

You can view here

Sexual Risk Behavior

• Talking with Your Teens about Sex: Going Beyond “the Talk” Monitoring Your Teen’s Activities: What Parents and Families Should Know
• Talking with teens about sex has a large impact on their decision to delay sex and to use protective methods when they do choose to have sex. This fact sheet provides guidance and information on how parents can communicate with teens about healthy relationships, expectations regarding sex, and methods to prevent HIV, STDs, and pregnancy.
• Parental monitoring is a powerful tool for influencing the healthy development of teens, including helping them avoid risky behavior such as substance use and having sex at an early age. By regularly checking in with teens and communicating clear expectations about risky behavior and their consequences, parents can reduce the likelihood that their teen will engage in behavior that can have long-term health effects. This fact sheet provides a helpful overview on what parental monitoring is and actions parents can take to support their teens.

Alcohol

• How to Address Underage Drinking with Your Son or Daughter
• Parent & Caregiver Resources
• “Talk. They Hear You.” is a substance use prevention campaign developed by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to help parents and caregivers address alcohol and drug use with their children. This campaign highlights the significant influence parents have in their children’s decision to experiment with or reject drugs and alcohol. This program provides parents with many resources and information on how to start and continue conversations regarding the risks of alcohol and drug use.

Opoids: Tips and action steps for talking about opioids

Keeping Your Kids Safe Brochures
The “Talk. They Hear You.” campaign also developed resources that provide parents with tips and action steps for talking about opioids with their children and teens. These brochures provide age appropriate information and guidance that is important to preventing opioid misuse.

Supporting LQBTQ + Youth

Family Acceptance Project
Parents’ Influence on the Health of Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual
Teens: What Parents and Families Should Know

Parental and familial acceptance is central to the wellbeing of LGBTQ+ children, teens, and young adults. Support and acceptance from parents and families helps protect youth from health risks, including substance use and STDs. Lack of acceptance and rejecting behavior contributes to these significant health risks, promoting the uneven impact health disparities have on LGBTQ+ youth. In addition, rejecting behavior contributes to the stigma and discrimination LGBTQ+ youth may already experience outside the home.

• The SFSU Family Acceptance Project contains various resources to aid families in supporting their LGBTQ+ children. Their content includes posters such as “Family Behaviors that Increase Your LGBTQ Child’s Health and Well-Being” and “Family Behaviors that Increase your LGBTQ Child’s Risk for Serious Health and Mental Health Problems,” as well as family education booklets such as “Supportive Families, Healthy Children.”
• This fact sheet provides an overview of the role parents have in the healthy development of their LGB teens, as well as specific actions parents can take to support teens and their sexual orientation.

Online PrEP Guide

A User’s Guide to PrEP

• This PrEP guide developed by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene provides helpful information and resources, including an overview of what PrEP is, recommendations for taking PrEP as prescribed, potential side effects of PrEP, and more.

Online PEP Guide

A User’s Guide to PEP

• PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis) is an emergency medication to prevent HIV after potentially being exposed to HIV. PrEP and PEP are different because PrEP is taken before being potentially exposed to HIV (pre-exposure prophylaxis). PEP is taken after being potentially exposed to HIV and is for emergency situations. PEP stops a potential exposure to the virus from becoming an HIV infection, meaning it helps prevent you from developing HIV. Importantly, PEP must be taken within 72 hours of the potential exposure in order to work. This guide by NYC Health provides helpful information and resources.

Online PEP Locator

Emergency PEP in New York City

• This NYC health map helps you locate a clinic that is experienced with providing PEP. It has search options to help you locate clinics to accomodate your needs, including filtering by after-house, cost, LGBTQ knowledgable clinics, and ages served.

Opioid Use Treatment Telehealth

NYC Telemedicine for Opioid Use Disorder

• The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene created a guide for accessing opioid use disorder treatment remotely via telehealth. This guide explains steps for accessing treatment remotely in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including steps for finding treatment and accessing low-cost medication.

Mental Health Telehealth

Mental Health Telehealth Contacts for COVID-19

• The New York City Department of Education created a guide for students and families to access mental health support and resources via telehealth. This guide lists community-based organizations, contact information, and the remote services they provide.