According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 1.2 million people in the United States are living with HIV, and one in seven individuals are unaware of their infection.

Thursday is National HIV Testing Day, an effort to raise awareness about HIV and AIDS and promote testing and early detection.

According to the North Central Health District, the annual event “serves as a vital reminder of the importance of knowing one’s HIV status and encourages everyone across all communities to take proactive steps to protect their health.”

As of September 2020, Preliminary Epidemiology Report for Alabama indicated that there were 361 newly diagnosed cases and 14,828 prevalent cases. Since 1982, when ADPH established HIV surveillance, 22,665 cases of HIV have been documented.

In the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2020 HIV Surveillance Report, nearby Georgia was ranked the 4th highest in the nation for the total number of new diagnoses of HIV infection among adults and adolescents. After the COVID-19 pandemic was declared a national and state emergency in March 2020, access to health care services, including HIV testing, prevention and care-related services, was reduced or temporarily suspended, making tracking of statistics on HIV and AIDS more challenging.

This is why testing is vital.

Why is AIDS so prevalent in the Southern part of the U.S.? Our region has high poverty, uneven medical care, many rural areas with transportation and visibility issues and a population with less health insurance coverage.

The tragic fact is that a simple and relatively inexpensive test might be the difference between life and death, yet many people may not know that testing is available free of charge in several locations.

All 13 North Central Health District county health departments offer HIV testing as a regular clinical service. That includes testing at the Baldwin County Health Department, located at 100 Ireland Drive in Milledgeville. Call 478-445-4274 or visit https://northcentralhealthdistrict.org/baldwin-county-health-department/for more information.

To find the location most convenient for your needs, visit NCHD52.org/Locations.

In many pockets of our community, the stigma against HIV/AIDS remains strong. It often forestalls many people from seeking testing.

Get tested and know your status. Encourage your partners and family members to do the same. It’s about generating awareness and erasing stigma.

CNHI News Service