Getting Tested For HIV

As a 52 year old gay man, AIDS has been a significant issue during nearly my entire adult life. As a result, I have accepted safe sex practices and get twice a year HIV tests (both blood and oral swab).

I think it would be great if this was standard as part of my annual physical–but it is not. I depend on the local LGBT center and HIV organization for free testing.

Still the main thing is for people to get tested and use safe sex practices. If everyone-gay or straight–did that, this issue would would become less lethal.

Could someone comment on this recent news article: "The head of the AIDS efforts at the World Health Organisation (WHO), Dr. Kevin De Cock, has said the threat of a heterosexual AIDS pandemic is officially over and decades of predictions that the disease would spread through general populations across the globe were wrong except in sub-Saharan Africa." and "According to James Chin, a clinical professor of epidemiology at the University of California at Berkeley and author of the new book The Aids Pandemic, it was always a "glorious myth" that there would be an "HIV epidemic in general populations". That myth was the product of "misunderstanding or deliberate distortions of HIV epidemiology" by Unaids and other Aids activists, says Chin"

As someone not at "risk" and in light of these recent news items, does it really make sense to HIV test *everyone* when resources for health care are finite?

This is a wonderful opportunity for those that want and need to know, or even suspected they had been exposed due to a partner, partner's past /behavior or their own. This is a way (hopefully) to postively identifiy the correct number of cases since the testing of a company oral swab test rendered inaccurate results, but the blood test proved negative. I believe the blood test may be more accurate and allow those to be properly informed and further postive health intiatives. Whereas I reside, there is a Health Dept., but if you do not have medical isnurance you are billed. It has become a clinic, perhaps they need this program. In the past, I seen billboards that encouraged HIV/AIDS education and awareness, but as time has moved on no boards appear in public, maybe because of programs and expense. Keep us informed

I had a blood test a few months ago.

Of course it's a good idea...if it's free, then why not? This is a great way to raise awareness. It would help people detect the disease from early and not when it's too late. People would have to make the decision to get tested though...some don't want to know and that's a problem.

I worked in the medical field for over 35 years, 23 of them in acute care, fifteen of those in the OB Dept. We began pressuring the administration at the hospital and the county public health officials as early as 1980 to make testing for all STD's and HIV, AIDS mandatory admission labs for OB patients. Non discrimnatory- results just as confidential as all the other labs we would do.It would have meant better care for the mothers and babies. We were being flooded at the time with a huge influx of Hmong mothers. Not AIDS nor HIV infected- but commonly carrying HEP B. Forewarned is forearmed. So many dibilitating and lethal diseases are now rampant across every strata of society. The culture of massive amounts of sexual intimacy with enormous numbers of partners- many for just the one encounter – just fuels the rampage. Some individuals can potentially infect thousands of people. Mass testing is a viable , though daunting, task. In the late Fifties and early Sixties- millions of Americans were given oral Polio vaccine- and it made tremendous strides against the disease. This situation will not get better, nor go away. I fear that soon it will mutate beyond what medicine is able to offer for management- in part because unprotected sex between partners who are not aware of their HIV status. What a shame

I strongly agree that having the hiv test should be mandatory with the physical test. atleast to control the madness. there a lot of inocent people affected. we can atleast control it better this way our try to prevent it more.