“There’s no effective treatment, so I don’t want to know.” Boy, how often we heard that in the bad ol’ days, pre-1996. Today, however, it’s a different world: There’s every reason to get tested, because that begins the process of surviving HIV – and stopping its spread. On June 27, National HIV Testing Day, let’s hope the motivation is high, because perhaps one-fourth of the roughly 1 million HIV-positive people in the U.S. don’t know they’re infected!
Anyone with sexual or needle-sharing risks should seriously consider an HIV test. Among some groups, such as young gay men, HIV is far more common than in the general population, so they particularly should seek testing, if they have risk activity. We especially encourage partners and spouses of all poz people to get tested; they also may be infected, but unaware.
Getting care early, before serious immune suppression develops, makes a tremendous difference in survival. Too many HIVers get tested late in their illness: 38% of people testing HIV positive in 2002 hit AIDS less than a year later. By that point, a good long-term response to treatment is less likely. But if caught early, HIV can significantly be managed, even though it can’t be cured.
CDC today also recognizes the value of testing-as-prevention: People who know their HIV-positive status usually choose safer behaviors. Prevention is also enhanced when treatment lowers an infected person’s HIV level, or viral load: Less virus present results in less HIV transmission. Even when the test is HIV-negative, the counseling process promotes awareness and safer choices.
National Testing Day’s theme – Take the Test, Take Control – is right on target. Don’t know your HIV status? Then you’re not fully in the driver’s seat. Get tested on June 27, or call anytime: 458-AIDS or 972-5580. Find out soon, and take control!
This article appears in June 17 • 2005.