Getting Tested is Self-Care
by Ngozi Osuagwu, MD | June 26th, 2022
I remember as a resident physician in the 1990s asking a young woman, “Have you ever been diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection?” She answered, “Does HIV count?” I remember replying, “oh yes it does”. According to the CDC, approximately 1.2 million people in the U.S. have human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). About 13 percent of them don’t know it and need testing. I am concerned about the 13% who do not know they have it. If you do not know that you have the disease, you are at risk of infecting another individual.
June 27th is National HIV Testing Day. The theme this year is ‘HIV Testing is Self-care‘. When we know our status, we are taking care of ourselves and taking care of the people we love. You cannot look at someone and know their status. Testing is the key to knowing whether you have HIV or not. The good news is that people with HIV who take HIV medicine (called antiretroviral therapy or ART) as prescribed and get and keep an undetectable viral load can live long and healthy lives and will not transmit HIV to their HIV-negative partner through sex.
Here are some statistics:
- In 2019, an estimated 34, 800 new HIV infections occurred in the United States.
- In 2019, Blacks/African Americans represented 13% of the U.S. population but accounted for 44% of new diagnoses.
- In 2019, Hispanics/Latinx represented 18 % of the U.S. population but accounted for 30% of new HIV diagnoses.
- In 2019, the number of new HIV diagnoses was highest among people aged 25 -29.
Testing including self-testing is the first step to engaging in HIV prevention or treatment services. Click here to watch a video on taking the HIV test. Click here to get information about free HIV self-testing kits. You can go to Locator.HIV.gov to find a place near you to get an HIV test.
For more information, you can go to the HIV Testing overview page.
To learn more about HIV, please check out the blog titled, What About the Other Virus?
