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National HIV Testing Day leads to more HIV identified in June
National HIV Testing Day, which annually occurs on June 27th, has led to more newly identified patients with HIV in the month of June compared with other months, according to the latest MMWR.
“National HIV Testing Day effectively targets groups disproportionately affected by HIV,” Shirley Lee Lecher, MD, in the division of HIV/AIDS Prevention at the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention at the CDC, and colleagues wrote. “During 2011–2014, there was a significant increase in total testing events as well as newly identified HIV-positive persons in June compared with other months, with a peak in new HIV diagnoses on [National HIV Testing Day].”
National HIV Testing Day includes 400 events across the United States and spans several days, the researchers wrote. While it can increase HIV testing, its impact on HIV identification is unknown.
To evaluate whether National HIV Testing Day increased the number of people aware of their HIV status, Lecher and colleagues used the National HIV Prevention Program Monitoring and Evaluation system to analyze data from 2011 to 2014. They compared testing performed in June to other months, and also compared number of newly identified patients with HIV on June 27th with the 2 weeks before and after. The results were then analyzed by age, sex, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity and risk behaviors.
The researchers found that there were 13,051,035 CDC-funded HIV testing events conducted between 2011 and 2014, with 3,299,690 in 2011, 3,287,024 in 2012, 3,343,633 in 2013 and 3,120,688 in 2014. The number of newly identified patients with HIV was 17,216 (0.52%) in 2011, 16,976 (0.52%) in 2012, 17,426 (0.52%) in 2013 and 16,530 (0.53%) in 2014. For each year, the number of testing events and newly identified patients with HIV peaked in June when compared with the mean from January through May and from July through December. June 27th had the most HIV identifications compared with all other days in the 2 weeks before and after. In addition, HIV identifications on National HIV Testing Day, when compared with those identified on the next highest day, increased by 25% in 2011, 40% in 2012, 20% in 2013 and 17% in 2014. The overall increase in the number of testing events and identified HIV on National HIV Testing Day was significant for all individuals aged 20 years and older, for all gender groups, for all ethnic groups and for all groups of sexual orientation.
“Testing is the first link in the chain to provide treatment and disrupt transmission, because persons who are aware that they have HIV infection are less likely to transmit HIV,” the researchers wrote. “Because blacks are less likely to have their infection diagnosed and have higher HIV-related mortality rates than other racial/ethnic groups in the United States, it is important to design interventions that specifically target HIV testing for this population.” – by Will Offit
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.