Record Number of Americans Get Tested for HIV: US

There has been an good amount of increase in the number of Americans tested for HIV with a record of 11.4 million people since 2006 but it was half of the adult population in the US. Looking at the fatal nature of disease and its consequences that the people in America has to face every year, the authority in the State has felt the necessity of making frequent medical visit for testing the people for having timely remedial measures. The hike in test numbers -- a total of 11.4 million more people since 2006 -- came after the US Centers for Disease Control began a campaign that year to incorporate testing for the virus that causes AIDS into routine medical visits.

The CDC's Vital Signs report said the percentage of adults who had been tested at least once in their lives increased to 45 percent -- or 82.9 million -- in 2009, after holding steady at approximately 40 percent from 2001 to 2006.

But 55 percent of American adults -- and 28.3 percent of people with a risk factor for AIDS -- have never been tested, so more action is needed, the CDC said.

"Today's news shows that we have had progress increasing testing, and that more progress is both necessary and possible," said CDC chief Thomas Frieden.

"With most adults and with nearly a third of high-risk people having never been tested for HIV, we need to do more to ensure that all Americans have access to voluntary, routine and early HIV testing in order to save lives and reduce the spread of this terrible disease."

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About 1.1 million people in the United States have HIV but up to one in five of them, or about 200,000 people, do not know their HIV status, the CDC said.

"Reducing the number of undiagnosed infections is a critical component of HIV prevention, as most sexually transmitted HIV infections in the United States are transmitted by people who are unaware of their infection," the CDC report said.

Source-AFP