HIV and the immune system.

[Guest guest]

At one time HIV testing ONLY showed where AIDS had

been not that it was here and now!!

 

 

D.C. Wants HIV Testing for All Residents 14 to 84

 

 

Saturday, June 24, 2006;

 

The District will launch a campaign next week urging

every resident between the ages of 14 and 84 to be

tested for HIV, an ambitious undertaking that public

health officials say is critical to reversing rates of

infection that are among the worst in the country.

 

The citywide campaign, which appears to be

unprecedented in its breadth, will target 400,000 men,

women and teenagers and encourage them to learn their

HIV status through an oral swab that delivers results

in 20 minutes.

 

 

 

Brandon Armani, right, with Unity Health Care works at

a mobile HIV testing center last year. The District

has the highest national rate of new AIDS cases, 179.2

per 100,000 people.

Brandon Armani, right, with Unity Health Care works at

a mobile HIV testing center last year. The District

has the highest national rate of new AIDS cases, 179.2

per 100,000 people.

 

Just who are the people who want your support in the

mayoral race? Over the next several months, you'll

hear about their positions on the city's proposed

baseball stadium, the schools, gentrification and a

host of other subjects.

 

Organizers want the rapid test to become as common a

part of any medical exam as blood-pressure monitoring

or a cholesterol check. The hope is that the results,

especially if positive, would influence a person's

sexual behavior and motivate him or her to seek

treatment.

 

The D.C. Health Department has 80,000 tests on hand

for free distribution to hospital emergency rooms,

private physicians' offices, community health programs

and public settings such as the city's detoxification

center and substance abuse and STD clinics. Officials

aim to exhaust that supply before the end of the year,

which would mean reaching a fifth of their key

population in the next six months.

 

" If we are serious about addressing this epidemic in

our community, then screening for HIV has to become

routine, " said Marsha Martin, who heads the city's

Administration for HIV Policy and Programs. " Because

we'll miss too many people otherwise. "

 

That approach dovetails with proposed guidelines from

the federal Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention. The CDC is considering a recommendation

" strongly encouraging " doctors to offer HIV tests as a

matter of course to patients ages 13 to 64.

 

City officials do not know how many people have HIV,

the virus that causes AIDS, because local data are

incomplete. But AIDS afflicts one in 50 District

residents, or almost 10,000 people. The nation's

capital has the highest rate of new AIDS cases in the

country, at 179.2 per 100,000 people, with African

Americans disproportionately affected.

 

Nationally, the CDC estimates, 25 percent of the more

than 1 million Americans living with HIV are unaware

they are infected.

 

" We have to start making it part of the public

consciousness, that HIV is of and among us, " Martin

said.

 

In a review this past spring of the District's

HIV/AIDS programs, the D.C. Appleseed Center for Law

and Justice recommended a citywide strategy for

standard HIV screening. The public service

organization has been critical of local officials'

response to the epidemic, which it considers one of

the most dire health problems facing the District.

 

Appleseed Executive Director Walter Smith applauded

the campaign yesterday. " I don't think you'll find

routine citywide testing anywhere in the country, " he

said. " It's an important and bold step forward, and we

welcome it. "