National HIV Testing Day

Do you know your HIV status? I don't mean, "do you think you know your HIV status?" or "are you pretty sure you know your HIV status?" I mean, "have you been tested and are you sure you know your HIV status?"

The CDC estimates that approximately 25% of American infected with HIV are unaware of their status. That's 180,000 to 280,000 people. And it's not just black women or homosexual men or poor African or Hispanic immigrants; HIV isn't a disease that only affects a particular group. Did you know that while the South represents a little more than one-third of the U.S. population, it accounts for 40% of people who have AIDS and 46% of new cases?

If you don't know your HIV status, you can visit http://www.hivtest.org/index.cfm to find a testing site near you. There are a number of locations that offer free, confidential testing. In Greenville, one is AID Upstate and, in Atlanta, one is AID Atlanta.

To quote this year's theme - "Take the test. Take control."