Reality Check: National HIV Testing Day

June 27th is National HIV Testing Day (NHTD).  Did you know this?  Were you aware?  Is this news to you?  See, I exist in a bubble that being I work in public health focused on HIV and STD’s/STI’s.  I’m used to the calendar of health awareness days and health months that occur to help organizations in my field drum up the attention and once again focus a spot light on the health problems continuing to run disparate in the African American and Latino communities of color. 

But I need a reality check.  I need to know the perception from outside the bubble. 

I decided to “get intimate” with life outside the bubble by talking to a close girlfriend who is in a year long relationship with a nice gentleman.  Recently I gave her a supply of female condoms, FC2s (Female Condom 2), the latest incarnation of the female condom which just came out in late fall 2009 made by the Female Health Company.  Unfortunately my girlfriend has yet to really try any of the FC2s I gave her.  I’ll save it to another day to really discuss FC2; suffice it to say that I still have high hopes for the newest female condoms use by women, currently our only female controlled prevention technology. 

What I did discuss with my girlfriend during our conversation was whether she knew her HIV status.  She was open and candid and told me she knew her status from an HIV test taken three years ago.  Since she began dating her current gentleman she has not taken the test.  She confessed she also didn’t know her gentleman’s status as well.  She even went a step further and acknowledged that her gentleman does not even wear a condom when they have sex.  She confessed “we are both sticking our heads in the sand, yes it’s true”!  She was not aware of a NHTD either. 

Reality Check!!

Sticking to the “game plan” seems to be hard for many of us.  I know many women who have “slipped up” on intentions that they would have the “real talk” with the guy they are dating about each other’s status for HIV and STD’s/STI’s  before becoming intimate or use a condom every single time.  The thought is easier than the practice when we’re trying to nurture love, like or even just sexual pleasure for its own sake. 

NHTD was first organized as an annual day by National Association of People with AIDS (NAPWA) with the support of AIDS.GOV and the CDC 17 years ago.  It is an effort to expand and make more common routine HIV testing.  In 2006 the CDC revised their HIV testing recommendations, recommending that HIV screening occur for people in all health care settings.  HIV does exist in our communities it is among all of us. 

If you have not taken an HIV test or have not had one in quite some time, consider taking this courageous step to learn your status. 

If you do not feel comfortable going to your own doctor or do not have a personal doctor there are many organizations hosting testing events on and around June 27th. 

Consult www.aids.gov or www.hivtest.org to find a testing site near you.  You will be able to enter in your zip code.  Many sites also may provide STD/STI testing as well. 

It’s time we confront the reality of HIV in our community and the first step is by knowing our own status and developing the courage to deal with our reality!

~ Anonymous

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