The reality is that there are lots of new ways to have fun, worry-free sex with the person you want, while maintaining full control over your sexual health – whether you’re living with HIV, or not.

But, we get it, the whole task of negotiating ‘safer sex’ (which isn’t our favourite term by the way, but you understand) can seem a bit confusing.

With lots of new words out there to describe a person’s ‘sexual status’, it’s not as straight forward as it once was (i.e. just ‘wrap it up’). And while yes, using a condom during sex is one very good way to prevent sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV – we now all have a few more options that give us more freedom and control.

Preventing HIV is now easier with pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) if you are HIV-negative. And antiretroviral treatment can reduce the level of virus if you’re living with HIV to such a low level that it’s undetectable and untransmittable (this is the ‘undetectable = untransmittable’, or U=U, message). As well as this, there’s new ways to self-test for HIV without even leaving the house.

The world is changing out there, so you would be forgiven for being confused.

So whether this is all rather new to you – or you’re clued-up but looking for some extra information to share with your friends – check out the pages above.

Photos are used for illustrative purposes. They do not imply any health status or behaviour on the part of the people in the photo.