Topic: AIDS awareness

True Story For National HIV Testing Day: The Random HIV Test That Saved My Life

True Story For National HIV Testing Day: The Random HIV Test That Saved My Life

Today is National HIV Testing Day, which was founded in 1995 to raise awareness for the historically misunderstood disease. Even today, myths and misinformation surround HIV and AIDS–myths that Gina Brown, a social worker and medical manager at the NO/AIDS Task Force in New Orleans works every day to erase. Brown knows a thing or two about how important HIV testing is–she herself tested positive in 1994 during a routine prenatal exam, and was kind enough to share her story with us. More »

World AIDS Day: HIV/AIDS Boom In Older Adults

World AIDS Day: HIV/AIDS Boom In Older Adults

This World AIDS Day 2011, it’s important to note that the new face of HIV in America is likely to have a few fine lines. Though HIV/AIDS is not a disease commonly associated with the elderly in most people’s minds, the fastest-growing segment of the HIV-positive population is, in fact, adults over age 50. Partly, this stems from advances in HIV treatment that have patients who contracted the disease when they were younger living longer. But it also reflects of spate of new cases of HIV or AIDS in middle-aged and senior adults. More »

You Are At Risk: How To Know When You Should Get Tested For AIDS

You Are At Risk: How To Know When You Should Get Tested For AIDS

Yesterday we asked you if your doctor screens you for HIV, and the majority of you said that he never even asks if you want to be tested, even though the CDC recommends that HIV testing be a standard part of our medical care for every American aged 13–64, and 20% of the almost 1.2 million Americans who are living with HIV are undiagnosed. You might not think so, but if you are sexually active, you are at risk for AIDS. Safe sex includes getting tested, so here’s what you should know: More »

World AIDS Day

World AIDS Day

Today is the 20th anniversary of the very first World AIDS Day held on 1st December 1988. Here’s this year’s World AIDS Day Message from UNAIDS Executive Director Dr Peter Piot…