HIV is no longer viewed as the death sentence it once was.
At present, the virus cannot be cured. However, since the Aids epidemic in the 1980s, drugs have been developed to successfully manage HIV.
It can be treated using drugs which slow down the spread of the virus.
On its own, the virus cannot kill a person. It grows by attacking the immune system making it unable to fight infection. But without treatment, HIV can develop into the more serious Aids.
According to figures released last year, around 520 people in the north have HIV.
Gay men are the group still most at risk of acquiring HIV within the UK, while the majority of heterosexual cases are acquired abroad. HIV is normally transmitted through unprotected sex, the sharing of needles or is passed from a mother to her child.