"The importance of National HIV Testing Day becomes clear when one recognizes that an estimated one-fifth of all Americans infected with HIV do not know they are infected. Among Americans who have been tested for the virus, more than one-third of those who learned they are infected became aware of their status less than a year before being diagnosed with AIDS—long after the optimal time to begin antiretroviral therapy.
"Not knowing one’s HIV status endangers one’s health and the health of one’s sexual partners. By getting tested for the virus and learning one’s HIV status soon after infection, treatment can begin early, substantially delaying the development of HIV-related illness and prolonging life."
Read more in U.S. NIAID, dated June 27, 2009 (National Testing Day).
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