Saturday, June 27 2009 is National HIV Testing Day
Photo credit: http://www.hivtest.org – All rights reserved – Copyright 2009
An annual event co-sponsored by the National Association of People With AIDS (NAPWA) and Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), this public health promotional effort encourages sexually-active Americans to be tested each year for infection with the HIV virus or other sexually transmitted diseases.
A separate CDC website at HIVTest.org allows a person to type in their individual zip-code or city/state location which will then bring up a directory of local sites where testing services will be available on Saturday.
Another means of finding local test site information is to call this toll-free phone number: 1-800-CDC-INFO (or 1-800-232-4636).
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A recently published report in MMWR – Vol. 58 (24);661-665 (June 26 2009) recaps the ill-effects of “Late HIV Testing in 34 States, 1996-2005″.
Here is an excerpt from that report – and one which represents a very sobering statistic for any epidemiologist: “Current estimates suggest that 21% of HIV infections in the United States are undiagnosed.”
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CDC sponsors a related consumer-health information source page called “Nine and A Half Minutes” (for the estimated frequency of new STD infections among Americans). Here is a screenshot of that site:
Photo credit: http://www.hivtest.org – All rights reserved – Copyright 2009
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A 14-page HIV Testing Fact Sheet (in English or Spanish language) is available from CDC at this link.
Finally, below is a short list of other statistical or factual sites for current sexual health information:
- CDC HIV/AIDS webpage and AIDS.gov
- NPIN (National Prevention Information Network) from CDC
- Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Reports (MMWR) – AIDS
- MMWR – Main Index Page
- The Global Network of People Living With HIV
- World Health Organization – HIV/AIDS
- US News & World Report reported on June 26 2009 that “…50% of HIV-positive U.S. teens don’t know they’re infected“. Read it here.
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1 response so far ↓
Laura Brasnan // July 21, 2009 at 2:15 AM
I really enjoyed reading and i found out that you have a very informative blog about AIDS.