Background information

The media has played a valuable role in informing the public about HIV. But at times, they have also used terms which can be misleading about the virus, or harmful to those people who are living with HIV/AIDS. The following excerpt on terminology is from the Australian HIV/AIDS Media Guide. It is intended to encourage accurate terminology and reporting that contributes to rather than takes away from the dignity of people living with HIV/AIDS, and vulnerable and marginalised communities.
HIV/AIDS Media Guide Second edition 2000.
Edited by Ruth Pollard.
© Australian Federation of AIDS Organizations (AFAO) and the Australian National Council on AIDS, Hepatitis C and Related Diseases (ANCAHRD) Terminology

Here are some examples of derogatory or inaccurate terms, together with suggestions of alternative terms and phrases:

AIDS is a range of conditions which occur when a person's immune system is seriously damaged by HIV infection. Someone who has HIV infection has antibodies to the virus but may not have developed any of the illnesses which constitute AIDS.

There is no such thing as the AIDS virus. There is only HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) - the virus that can cause AIDS. The term "HIV virus" actually means Human Immunodeficiency Virus virus, which is not correct.

Many PLWHA feel these terms imply they are powerless, with no control over their lives.

This term is highly offensive and stigmatizing to many people with HIV and AIDS. It is also incorrect: the infective agent is HIV. You can't just catch AIDS. This term may also give the impression that people can protect themselves choosing a partner based on their appearance or by avoiding someone who they know has AIDS.

This term implies there is such a thing as "half-blown AIDS". A per-
son only has AIDS when they present with an AIDS-defining illness
such as an opportunistic infection.

This implies that membership of a particular group, rather than behavior, is the significant factor in HIV commission. This term may lull people who don't identify with a high risk group into a false
sense of security. It is high risk behaviors such as unsafe sex or unsafe injecting practices that can spread HIV, not high risk groups.

Usually used to describe HIV positive children or people with medically acquired HIV infection (through blood transfusions etc.). It wrongly implies that people infected in other ways are guilty of
some wrong-doing and somehow deserving of punishment. This feeds discrimination, particularly homophobia, and should be avoided.

This implies that people in the populations targeted for HIV prevention, education and care are not part of the general population. It artificially divides the world into those who are infected, or at
risk of HIV infection and those who are not, and falsely implies that identity, rather than behavior, is the critical factor in HIV transmission.

Confusion about the body fluids that can transmit HIV is a common
cause of fear and misunderstanding about HIV and continues to cause
discrimination against PLWHA. Always explain which body fluids contain HIV in sufficient concentrate to be implicated in HIV transmission (i.e. blood, semen, pre-ejaculate, vaginal fluids and breast milk). HIV cannot be transmitted through body fluids such as saliva,
sweat, tears or urine.

Use "AIDS patient" only to describe someone who has AIDS and who is, in the context of the story, in a medical setting. Most of the time, a person with AIDS is not in the role of a patient.

Prostitute is considered a disparaging term and does not reflect the fact that sex work is a form of employment for a sex worker, not a way of life.

Again, the term street walker does not represent the employment aspect of sex work, and is therefore derogatory and misleading.

Illicit drug use is only one part of an injecting drug user's life.
Terms such as junkie rely on a stereotyped image which is not accurate.