A New HIV Infection Every 9 1/2 Minutes
August 28th, 2009 | by caprice |With all the health care reform hub-bub, this important post got missed…
June 27th was the National HIV Testing Day. The date came and went with little publicity as far as I could tell but I received an FDA notice on July 13th stating as much. The message stated that someone is newly infected with the virus every 9 1/2 minutes. Ouch!
The CDC has a website where you can enter your zip code to find a local testing center www.HIVtest.org. This website also has a lot of excellent information on it as well, like how long after a possible exposure should you wait before getting tested, etc. Another easy way to find a testing center using your phone is to send a text message to 566948 (”KNOW IT”) and you will text message back with a center near you. I put in my own zip code and found 5 free testing sites with a 25 mile radius of me - it’s that easy!
Why get tested? If you know, you can make more informed decisions and those who catch their status in early stages of the disease can improve and extend their lives as opposed to those who do not get tested and then get diagnosed at a later state.