For over 20 years, NCAP has been the community-based organization that has led the response to HIV and AIDS in Northern Colorado. The agency has evolved according to the needs of people living with HIV and AIDS, along with adapting to public policy and attitudes towards the disease.

NCAP is the only AIDS service organization in 16,000 square miles that provides comprehensive medical case management and prevention education/outreach services, including confidential HIV testing. We have developed an extensive network of collaborative and cooperative service providers throughout our vast geographic rural/frontier service area to ensure HIV/AIDS care and prevention remain in our local communities.

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is a virus that attacks the infected person’s immune system. Specifically, HIV gradually destroys special white blood cells (called T cells or CD4+ cells)¹, causing the infected person to become more prone to illnesses. The longer a person has HIV, and as that person’s HIV viral load (the amount of the virus in the body) increases, the weaker the immune system will become.   Viral load is measured in number of viral copies per cubic millimeter of blood (mm3). An uninfected person generally has a T cell count between 800-1200/mm3, while someone who is HIV-positive will have T cell counts that become progressively lower.

 

Once an HIV-positive person’s T cell count drops below 200/mm3, that person has developed Acquired Human Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS)², which is considered the final stage of HIV. At this point, most infected people develop illnesses caused by opportunistic infections that almost never appear in people with properly functioning immune systems, such as certain kinds of cancers or pneumonias. They also develop common illnesses, but often get much sicker than uninfected people and take longer to recover³. AIDS is eventually fatal, with death being caused by any number of opportunistic infections.