National HIV Testing Day: Because We All Have a Status
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National #HIVTestingDay is today, June 27, and this year’s theme is “HIV Testing is Self-care.”
Taking an HIV test is taking care of you. Knowing your status gives you powerful information to help stay healthy.
“Testing is the first step in taking control of your health. Once you know, you can take the next step,” says Rick Guasco, creative director for Positively Aware magazine.
“National HIV Testing Day matters to me because I know what how fear and stigma can discourage someone from getting tested. Thirty years ago, I started developing skin lesions on my face and body. Having seen similar spots on people with AIDS in the 1980s, I had an idea what they were but I was too afraid to go get tested for fear of getting the results. But it was only months later, when I finally got tested did I overcome my fear and do what I needed to do to take control. Getting tested, whatever the result is, is the first step to taking control of your health.”
Above: the cover of the July+August issue of Positively Aware, the 10th annual hepatitis drug guide.
Two young people who access TPAN‘s youth program for people vulnerable to HIV had this to say… [TPAN publishes Positively Aware]
Sonica:
“HIV testing is crucial especially for women of color. We have made some strides in HIV but we need to be reeducated and have open conversation about sex, knowing your risk and most importantly why testing regularly is important.”
Dameon:
“Focusing on youth can reveals opportunities for health care providers have discussion about sexual orientation and HIV, greatly increasing the odds of testing.”
New CDC data published ahead of National HIV Testing Day (Monday, June 27) show a sharp decrease in the number of CDC-funded HIV tests administered in health care and non-health-care settings (43% and 50%, respectively) from 2019 to 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. These concerning drops were seen among groups disproportionately affected by HIV, highlighting the urgent need to scale up testing and reduce disparities among the people who could most benefit from HIV prevention and care.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends that everyone between the ages of 13 and 64 get tested for HIV at least once as part of routine health care, and more often if you do things that might increase your risk for getting HIV.
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The only way to know your HIV status is to get tested. Knowing your status gives you powerful information to keep you and your partner healthy.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends that everyone between the ages of 13 and 64 get tested for HIV at least once as part of routine health care, and more often if you do things that might increase your risk for getting HIV.
Even if you are in a monogamous relationship (both you and your partner are having sex only with each other), you should find out for sure whether you or your partner has HIV.
