An official website of the United States government
National HIV Testing Day — June 27, 2016
Weekly / June 24, 2016 / 65(24);613
National HIV Testing Day (http://www.cdc.gov/features/HIVtesting), June 27, highlights the importance of testing in detecting, treating, and preventing human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Awareness of HIV infection through HIV testing is the first step to prevention, health care, and social services that improve quality of life and length of survival (1). CDC’s National HIV Behavioral Surveillance (NHBS) monitors behaviors among populations at risk for acquiring or transmitting HIV infection. In 2012, NHBS data indicated that 9% of persons who inject drugs tested positive for HIV, and among those persons, 36% were unaware of their infection before testing (2). In 2013, 2% of heterosexuals at increased risk for HIV infection tested positive for HIV, and among those, 44% were unaware of their infection before testing (3). In 2014, among 22% of men who have sex with men who tested positive for HIV, 25% were unaware of their infection before testing (4).
Basic HIV testing information for consumers (http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/basics/testing.html) and health professionals (http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/testing), and CDC guidelines for HIV testing of serum (http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/testing/laboratorytests.html) are available online.
References
- Bradley H, Hall HI, Wolitski RJ, et al. Vital signs: HIV diagnosis, care, and treatment among persons living with HIV—United States, 2011. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2014;63:1113–7. PubMed
- CDC. HIV infection, risk, prevention, and testing behaviors among persons who inject drugs. Atlanta, GA: US Department of Health and Human Services, CDC; 2015. http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/pdf/library/reports/surveillance/cdc-hiv-HSSR_NHBS_PWID_2012.pdf
- CDC. HIV infection, risk, prevention, and testing behaviors among heterosexuals at increased risk of HIV infection. Atlanta, GA: US Department of Health and Human Services, CDC; 2013. http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/pdf/library/reports/surveillance/cdc-hiv-hssr_nhbs_het_2013.pdf
- CDC. HIV infection risk, prevention, and testing behaviors among men who have sex with men. Atlanta, GA: US Department of Health and Human Services, CDC; 2014. http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/pdf/library/reports/surveillance/cdc-hiv-hssr-nhbs-msm-2014.pdf
Suggested citation for this article: National HIV Testing Day — June 27, 2016. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2016;65:613. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6524a1.
MMWR and Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report are service marks of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Use of trade names and commercial sources is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services.
References to non-CDC sites on the Internet are
provided as a service to MMWR readers and do not constitute or imply
endorsement of these organizations or their programs by CDC or the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services. CDC is not responsible for the content
of pages found at these sites. URL addresses listed in MMWR were current as of
the date of publication.
All HTML versions of MMWR articles are generated from final proofs through an automated process. This conversion might result in character translation or format errors in the HTML version. Users are referred to the electronic PDF version (https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr) and/or the original MMWR paper copy for printable versions of official text, figures, and tables.
Questions or messages regarding errors in formatting should be addressed to mmwrq@cdc.gov.