Spotlight: HIV Testing

Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/spotlight2.htm

 

CDC estimates that approximately 40,000 persons in the United States become infected with HIV each year.  At the end of 2003, an estimated 1,039,000 to 1,185,000 persons in the United States were living with HIV and about one-fourth have not yet been diagnosed and are unaware of their infection.

HIV counseling and testing enables people with HIV to take steps to protect their own health and that of their partners, and helps people who test negative get the information they need to stay uninfected. 

View a special message (Windows Media 1.03 MB) from First Lady, Laura Bush on the importance of HIV testing. 

Across the country, thousands of HIV counseling and testing sites, state and local health departments, and community-based organizations provide counseling and testing services.  Fees for these services are often based on “ability to pay” or may even be free. 

Visit the National HIV Testing Resources Web site, which allows users to locate HIV testing sites in their area.

Additional HIV Testing Resources:

• Learn about rapid HIV testing from CDC’s Rapid HIV Testing Resources site.
• MMWR: Rapid HIV Test Distribution — United States, 2003–2005
• MMWR: 2001 Revised Guidelines for HIV Counseling, Testing, and Referral
• MMWR: 2001 Revised Recommendations for HIV Screening of Pregnant Women
• MMWR: Voluntary HIV Testing as Part of Routine Medical Care
• Brochure: HIV and AIDS: Are You At Risk?
• HIV/AIDS Surveillance Special Report Number 5: HIV Testing Survey 2002