In an effort to boost awareness of HIV and AIDS in the U.S., the National Association of People with AIDS sponsored its 11th Annual National HIV Testing Day on Monday, a campaign intended to encourage at-risk individuals to get voluntary HIV counseling and testing.
On Monday (June 27), the Department of Health and Human Services, as well as local health officials, will offer free, fast and confidential HIV counseling and testing to people at more than 11,500 testing sites across the country. There are two types of HIV tests available at the sites: a conventional blood test, where blood is drawn via a needle by a health-care provider and tested at a lab; and a conventional oral-fluid test, where saliva is collected by swabbing the inside of the mouth. Other types of tests are available at most health clinics and doctors' offices; a home-test brand, HomeAccess, has been approved by the FDA.
With new testing technology, a person can learn their HIV status in just 20 minutes (as opposed to one to two weeks 20 years ago), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that in 2003, up to 22 million people, ages 18-64, were tested for HIV within the last year.
"Although recent data shows that voluntary rapid-testing efforts are increasing the number of people who learn of their HIV status, too many Americans still do not know [whether or not they are HIV positive]," Mike Leavitt, Secretary of Health and Human Services, said in a statement.
An estimated 40,000 Americans are newly infected with HIV each year, according to the CDC, and at least one-fourth of Americans who are HIV positive do not know it. New CDC data indicates that as of December 2003, between 1,039,000 and 1,185,000 people were living with HIV, the highest number ever estimated to date in the United States (see "U.S. HIV Cases Pass 1 Million Mark For First Time Since '80s"). Nearly half of those infected with the disease are black. Also, a study of six major U.S. cities by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation found that 77 percent of gay and bisexual men between the ages of 15 and 29 who are HIV positive did not know they are infected with the virus.
In order to curb the spread of HIV and guide people who are infected into treatment, the Department of Health and Human Services is working to make HIV testing and counseling a more routine part of medical care. While many Americans say they would like to have more information regarding HIV testing, there remain a stigma and misconceptions about testing, according to Kaiser. Three in 10 people say they would be concerned that people would think less of them if they had been tested, and a third think that blood drawn at the doctor's office is automatically tested for HIV.
National HIV Testing Day was launched in 1995 by NAPWA to encourage Americans to get tested, and to increase awareness of the epidemic.
Last week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration tentatively approved the distribution of two new generic AIDS drugs that will be used as part of President Bush's initiative to combat global AIDS (see "FDA Tentatively Approves Two Drugs For Global AIDS Treatment"). The drug nevirapine, which will be sold exclusively by two firms based in India, helps stop the AIDS virus from multiplying.
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