RNA (Ribonucleic acid): The form in which the genetic material for HIV is stored.

Rape: The act of forcing an individual into having sexual intercourse against his or her will.

Regimen: A drug or treatment combination and the way in which it is taken.

Rehabilitation: Process of returning a person to productive daily activity at whatever level is appropriate for that individual. The aim is to either improve or else maintain the quality of life and functional capacity, decreasing hospitalization and increasing self-care.

Relapse: Recurrence of disease symptoms following a period of improvement.

Replication: The process by which HIV duplicates.

Remission: Lessening of the severity or duration of the effects of disease, or the abatement of symptoms altogether over time.

Resistance: The ability to overcome the inhibiting effects of a drug or disease. If an organism is no longer affected to the same degree by a disease or drug, it is said to be resistant to the drug or disease.

Retrovirus: A virus that replicates using the reverse of the usual process. Normal viruses have DNA cores and replicate via RNA, much like the body’s own cells. Retroviruses such as HIV, however, replicate by copying their own RNA into the DNA of the host using an enzyme called reverse transcriptase.

Reverse transcriptase: The enzyme present in HIV that transfers RNA into DNA.

Ribonucleic acid: See RNA.

Risk factors: Anything that increases the chances of HIV infection, including: penile-vaginal, penile-anal, mouth-vaginal, and mouth-anal contact without a condom; sharing needles that have not been sterilized; being born to an HIV-positive mother; and receiving a transfusion of HIV-contaminated blood.

Risky behaviour: Any kind of behaviour that places an individual I contact with HIV risk factors on an above average basis.