Early HIV Testing Can Help Save Lives

By Jamie Durant, Florence Morning News, S.C.

Jun. 26–An estimated 250,000 people are unknowingly living with HIV in the United States, but that number could go down drastically with regular testing, S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control spokesman Tony Price said.

“Regardless if someone thinks of themselves in a certain risk group, we want to take the stigma away from being tested for HIV and say it is part of an overall regular health maintenance check up plan,” Price said.

To kick off regular testing, a number of local offices are offering free HIV testing as today is National HIV Testing Day.

Local DHEC offices will offer free HIV testing today and HopeHealth will be holding a HIV Testing Day on Saturday at the Northwest Community Center in Florence.

Pam Brantley, lead prevention specialist at HopeHealth, said routine testing is important so people can get the treatment they need as soon as possible.

“Without being tested, you don’t know your status,” Brantley said.

Price said the early testing is even more important now than it was when HIV first came on to the national scene in the 1980s.

“The earlier someone finds out they have HIV, the earlier they start treatments,” he said. “It’s also important for all those who are significant others of who might have HIV.”

The new drug cocktails are making it possible for people with HIV to live long, fulfilled lives despite having contracted the virus, Price said.

“The earlier they can find out, if they access treatment, they have the potential for living longer, healthier, more productive lives than if they were diagnosed later,” he said.

The proof of that is in the number of people, who were given death sentences in the early 1980s for having HIV, who are still going strong today, Price said.

“We know that many people who were infected in the 1980s who lived long enough to get to the 1990s are living productive live in their communities,” he said.

For more information about HIV testing events and sites, call DHEC’s AIDS/STD Hotline at (800) 322-AIDS (2437).

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