Medication adherence will reduce the risk of developing resistance. Resistant HIV can function and grow because of missing or skipping doses of HIV medication. HIV will mutate or change its structure in such a way that it loses its sensitivity to a particular drug. In order for the drugs to work as they are supposed to, you will want an adherence rate of 95% or more, and the virus will have fewer opportunities to develop resistance. Since the number of effective combinations of medicines is limited, you will want your body to continue to respond to as many HIV drugs as possible to continue to LIVE WELL WITH HIV. In the past, a diagnosis of HIV was considered a death sentence. This is no longer the case. With the discovery of new medications and a growing understanding of the virus, people are living long and healthy lives.

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