Early detection for HIV/AIDS will save lives

By Akilah Monifa
June 19, 2003
June 27 is National HIV Testing Day, and with the soaring rates of infection in the United States, we need to raise awareness about testing.
AIDS affects people of all ethnicities and identities. HIV infection rates in folks who identify as gay have decreased since the early 1980s, when HIV and AIDS were first identified, but rates for women and people of color have increased. Of the 43,000 new AIDS cases reported in the United States in 2001, nearly half were African Americans. And among women with AIDS, nearly two-thirds were African Americans.
Statistics show that 1 in 3 people who are infected with HIV do not know about their infections, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And the more unfortunate statistic is the number of folks who simply don't care whether they are or not.
Educating people about HIV and AIDS is key. Past campaigns have emphasized abstinence and condom use. While these are good ways of reducing the risk of new infections, they must be supplemented with facts about testing, not stymied by stigma.
The AIDS epidemic has already cost more than 28 million lives worldwide. Thousands contract the disease daily, mostly through unprotected sex. With testing, many of these cases could be detected early and treated with new vaccines now available on the market.
Testing facilities should help educate communities and encourage sexually active individuals to get tested with regularity. Organizations like the National AIDS Hotline (800-342-AIDS) can help people find testing locations near their hometowns.
Although many people with HIV/AIDS in the United States are living longer and more productive lives, there is still no cure. We need to encourage testing year round so that early detection can prevent this epidemic from prematurely claiming more lives.
Akilah Monifa is a free-lance writer living in Oakland, Calif. She can be reached at pmproj@progressive.org.