Every year, National HIV Testing Day on June 27th provides an opportunity for us to fight the HIV epidemic across America by encouraging our friends and loved ones to get tested, which the Centers for Disease Control recommends every American ages 13 to 64 do at least once. Many people with HIV don’t feel sick or show symptoms immediately after they are infected – so the only way to know if you have HIV is through testing.
As AIDSVu maps illustrate, HIV has as much to do with where you live as what you do. Certain areas, such as Miami, New Orleans and Baton Rouge lead the country in new HIV diagnosis rates. Pockets of high HIV diagnosis rates across the country persist, particularly across the South, Northeastern cities and California’s urban areas. In fact, new HIV cases in the U.S. are so concentrated that 92% of new HIV diagnoses occur in just 25% of counties.
Getting tested for HIV is just as important today as it has always been. Current HIV statistics, while encouraging when compared to previous years, still point to a national epidemic. Find your local testing site at AIDSVu.org/testing.
