Today is National HIV Testing Day. This holiday is an annual campaign to encourage at-risk individuals to receive voluntary HIV counseling and testing. About 180,000 to 280,000 people nationwide are HIV positive, but are unaware.
I was in college when HIV became the big story and, in turned out, Sonoma County had one of the highest infection rates in the nation for several years. So, when I was dating, the risk of HIV was real and quite scary. Throw in college classes in public health and some very serious discussions about the possibility of mutation in HIV (which is highly adaptive) and I came home nearly afraid to have sex. One night stands were definitely not in my future... nor were they for more of my friends. It was just too scary.
I took a lot of courage to have my first HIV test years ago but my boyfriend deserved to know if there was a risk of infection. Saying "I didn't know" is a lame and nearly criminal excuse today when testing is so much easier, quicker and FREE in many clinics around the country.
There are thousands of HIV counseling and testing sites around the country will participate in this very important day.
Visit http://www.hivtest.org to check for a testing site near you!
Jill
I was in college when HIV became the big story and, in turned out, Sonoma County had one of the highest infection rates in the nation for several years. So, when I was dating, the risk of HIV was real and quite scary. Throw in college classes in public health and some very serious discussions about the possibility of mutation in HIV (which is highly adaptive) and I came home nearly afraid to have sex. One night stands were definitely not in my future... nor were they for more of my friends. It was just too scary.
I took a lot of courage to have my first HIV test years ago but my boyfriend deserved to know if there was a risk of infection. Saying "I didn't know" is a lame and nearly criminal excuse today when testing is so much easier, quicker and FREE in many clinics around the country.
There are thousands of HIV counseling and testing sites around the country will participate in this very important day.
Visit http://www.hivtest.org to check for a testing site near you!
Jill
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