The Centers for Disease Control has issued a report that more than 1.2 million Americans are currently living with HIV, including about 156,300 who aren’t aware of it.
That adds up to about 13 percent of people carrying the virus who aren’t adequately prepared to manage their own health and pose a high risk of infecting others.
The L.A. Times reports that the White House has set a goal for 90 percent of people infected to be aware of their status. As of 2012, only four states — Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii and New York — had met that benchmark, the CDC stated last week during a Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Colorado came very close, and another seven states — Alaska, Idaho, Maine, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota and Vermont — may be meeting the target but didn’t have enough new HIV cases in recent years to provide a reliable estimate.
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Louisiana ranked lowest in HIV awareness at 77 percent.
Among men who have sex with men — a group that accounts for about 60 percent or new infections per year — only Hawaii met the 90 percent goal, though New York came close and estimates suggest Alaska, Maine, Montana and Vermont have also hit the mark.
Moral of the story? Go get tested.
Merv
This is why we should put our focus on testing more than PrEP, because it is untreated infected people who are most dangerous. Most of the people who are infected have an inkling, but are in denial, and actively avoiding testing. Since they know PrEP requires testing, they’ll avoid that, too. The best way to force the issue is to make home testing freely available. It isn’t perfect, but people who are in denial will avoid it, indirectly providing crucial information to those trying to minimize risk, and hopefully gradually wear down the state of denial that is hurting so many.
Tony Chaplinski
that my dear right wingers includes hetero and bi’s left or right wing and it’s an unfortunate statistic.
hyhybt
This is at best horribly misworded. “One in eight Americans” is about 38 million people.
Tricia Gatte Andrews
That statement is a little misleading. “One in 8 HIV positive Americans Unaware they are infected, says CDC” is more accurate. The current wording makes it seem like one in every 8 people in America is positive and doesn’t know it.
SportGuy
This is the exact reason why you should always use condoms with every single person! No matter what they say their status is!
BigG
PrEP it up! I’m shocked how many people are not taking this.
Raphael
Avoid the test is the most stupid thing. No one else but you would know the results.
jason smeds
PrEP is for idiots. It’s also expensive. There’s no guarantee that it will stop you from catching an STD. Here’s a cheap way to avoid STD’s: don’t go to bed with every Tom, Dick and Harry.
joe
i would rather not have sex than get tested.
notevenwrong
@joe, as long as you are sure you are not going to regret this decision when you are 80.
I am not 80, but in my experience, I only regret the things I could have done but haven’t done. There is a great scene in Little Miss Sunshine about this.
joe
so far so good..been about 2 yrs so far. i had A LOT of sex when i first started playing with guys….always safer sex but shit can still happen…i just think that the reality of the present day situation (what we are discussing here about unknow hiv carriers)began to sink in…theres a point where i just felt i was begining to push my luck..
onthemark
@jason smeds: “Here’s a cheap way to avoid STD’s: don’t go to bed with every Tom, Dick and Harry.”
From the stories you were telling us a couple of weeks ago, you were going to bed with every Tomas, Ricardo and Enrique!