National HIV Testing Day (NHTD) is observed on June 27th each year to emphasize and encourage HIV testing. The theme for 2023, “Take the Test & Take the Next Step” emphasizes that knowing your HIV status helps you choose options to stay healthy. Knowledge of HIV status is the first step to accessing prevention or treatment services that enable individuals to live a long and healthy life regardless of their status. There are many different ways and places that patients can get tested for HIV, including at home with a self-test. Learn more about the benefits of self testing.
CDC Testing Recommendations
The importance of HIV testing is included in the National HIV/AIDS Strategy for the United States 2022-2025 (PDF 1.76 MB), and one of its objectives, To Increase Knowledge of HIV Status, aligns with NHTD. Further, CDC recommends the following HIV testing:
- Everyone between the ages of 13 and 64 should get tested for HIV at least once as part of routine health care.
- Those with certain ongoing risk factors—such as having more than one sex partner since their last HIV test or having sex with someone whose sexual history they don’t know—should get tested annually. Some sexually active gay and bisexual men may benefit from more frequent testing (e.g., every 3 to 6 months).
- As part of proactive prenatal care, all pregnant women should receive certain blood tests to detect infections and other illnesses, such as HIV, syphilis, and Hepatitis B.
Learn more about the Importance of HIV Testing for Prevention of HIV Infection and HIV Tests for Screening and Diagnosis on the CDC website now.
HIV Status-Neutral Service Delivery Model
Status-neutral is an evolution and expansion of how HIV service agencies currently implement the HIV care continuum. Status-neutral encompasses the delivery of HIV prevention and care services while addressing the myriad social and health needs of patients regardless of their HIV status. Testing is at the forefront of the status-neutral model. Below is PAETC’s status-neutral model.
Learn more about the status-neutral model from TargetHIV.
Resources from PAETC and our Training Partners
HIV 101 Testing Resources
Webinar
Web pages
- CDC rationale for routine HIV screening: Benefits of Routine Screening
- CDC rationale for routine HIV screening: Opt-Out Screening
- CDC types of HIV tests
CAPTC Videos on Delivering Positive Test Results
The California Prevention Training Center has created various video roleplays on delivering positive HIV results.