Saturday,
June 27, is National HIV Testing Day
| The
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has designated June 27 as National HIV Testing
Day (NHTD), an opportunity to call attention to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the U.S.
and the large proportion of people infected with the virus who do not yet know
their serostatus. |
 This
year's NHTD theme is "Take the Test. Take Control."
Finding
out you are HIV positive is a difficult experience, but it can help you resolve
to prevent transmission to others and enable early treatment before serious immune
system damage occurs. Learning you are HIV negative can renew your determination
to stay that way. The
CDC now urges regular HIV testing as part of routine healthcare for people from
aged 13 to 64 years. The
CDC, National Association of People with AIDS (NAPWA), Kaiser Family Foundation,
and others have organized a wide array of events and tools for getting out the
message, The
updated NHTD
Web Site -- part of the CDC's National
HIV and STD Testing Resources site -- features an events calendar and serves
as an online clearinghouse for tools, widgets, and posters to help promote HIV
testing. Follow
@AIDSgov on Twitter (#NHTD09) for breaking news about campaign highlights, new
blog updates, and video posts. The
Kaiser Family Foundation has produced a new factsheet on "HIV
Testing in the United States" that provides key testing statistics, CDC
recommendations, test sites, and a summary of the types of tests available. The
organization also released 2 Survey Briefs about HIV testing: "Views
and Experiences with HIV Testing in the U.S." and "Views
and Experiences with HIV Testing Among African Americans in the U.S.".
Below
is the text of a statement from National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
director Dr. Anthony Fauci explaining the purpose of NHTD and the importance of
timely HIV testing. National
HIV Testing Day --
Statement of Anthony S. Fauci, MD
Director, National
Institute of Allergy and
Infectious Diseases National Institutes of Health  June
27, 2009 -- The importance of National HIV Testing Day becomes clear when one
recognizes that an estimated one-fifth of all Americans infected with HIV do not
know they are infected.[1] Among Americans who have been tested for the virus,
more than one-third of those who learned they are infected became aware of their
status less than a year before being diagnosed with AIDS -- long after the optimal
time to begin antiretroviral therapy.[2]
Not
knowing one's HIV status endangers one's health and the health of one's sexual
partners. By getting tested for the virus and learning one's HIV status soon after
infection, treatment can begin early, substantially delaying the development of
HIV-related illness and prolonging life. The
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National
Institutes of Health, urges everyone ages 13 to 64 to get tested for HIV as part
of their routine health care, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
recommends. People at high risk for HIV infection -- such as injection drug users,
gay and bisexual men, female partners of bisexual men, and people with multiple
sexual partners -- should get tested at least once a year. Widespread,
voluntary HIV testing and treatment for infected individuals could benefit both
people with HIV and their communities. Studies have shown that most people who
learn they are infected with HIV adjust their behavior to avoid transmitting the
virus to others.[3] In addition, when HIV-infected people start antiretroviral
therapy and take it consistently, the treatment reduces the amount of virus in
their blood and other bodily fluids to very low levels. Not only does this protect
their health, but it may also make them less infectious to others; a NIAID clinical
trials network is in the process of testing this hypothesis. This
community-level benefit of HIV testing and treatment could assume greater importance
in the future as scientists examine a compelling new model for HIV prevention.
This mathematical
model, developed by scientists at the World Health Organization, predicts
that within 10 years of implementation, a program of universal, voluntary, annual
HIV testing and immediate treatment for those who test positive could reduce new
cases of HIV by as much as 95 percent.[4] The model further predicts that this
strategy, called test and treat, could end the HIV pandemic within 50 years. However,
the test and treat model contains many assumptions that need to be validated and
raises issues that require broad public debate. NIAID has begun conducting research
to validate some of these assumptions and address some of these issues. Meanwhile,
CDC has launched an important initiative, Act Against AIDS, designed to dramatically
increase the number of Americans who get tested for HIV and who take action to
protect their health and the health of their sexual partners. To learn more, go
to http://www.cdc.gov/nineandahalfminutes.
On
this year's National HIV Testing Day, let us remove any stigma and fear that surround
HIV testing and recognize its lifesaving value. By doing so, we are taking a critical
step in containing the terrible scourge of HIV, protecting our own health as well
as the health of our communities. To find an HIV testing site near you, go to
www.hivtest.org. For more information about HIV testing, go to http://www.aids.gov.
Dr.
Fauci is director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.
6/26/09
Source
AS Fauci. National HIV Testing Day -- Statement of Anthony
S. Fauci, MD Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases National
Institutes of Health. Public statement. June 27, 2009.
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