There are already over 1.2 million Americans inflicted with AIDS and 156,300 or about 13 percent of them are unaware that they are already infected with the virus that causes HIV, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Empire State Tribune reports.
It is important for one to take the time to check if he or she is positive with HIV. However, many are either afraid or ashamed to take an HIV test. Some are afraid that the result would be positive, so they opted to forgo the chance of knowing if their hunch is correct or wrong; others are shy to take the test because others who will know about it might judge them that they are HIV carriers even before the result is released, and some just do not have any idea of their HIV status.
Those individuals who do not know that they are infected with HIV is in a more dangerous condition because they are not in the position to protect their health due to their lack of awareness.
Everyone is advised to know their HIV status because it is contagious. It will benefit the public at large if HIV carriers are aware of their condition so they cannot spread it to others.
In a report from Empire State Tribune, there is a study published this spring in JAMA Internal Medicine, which revealed that 30 percent of new HIV transmissions could be attributed to people who are HIV carriers but were undiagnosed and unaware of their condition.
For this reason, the White House has set a goal that at least 90 percent of individuals with HIV should be aware of their condition. The program started on 2012, but only four states met the goal: Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii and New York.
Colorado came close to meeting the goal with an estimated 89.7 percent diagnosis for HIV positive population.
The researchers revealed that another seven states were about to accomplish the goal, but lack enough new HIV cases in the recent years to determine if their statistics estimate is reliable. These states are Alaska, Idaho, Maine, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota and Vermont.
Louisiana was far from accomplishing the goal with just 77 percent awareness.
Nationwide, only 87 percent Americans with HIV are aware of their condition.
To figure out the number of HIV carriers who were not aware of their condition, the team used the data from National HIV Surveillance System.They examined the number of individuals with HIV and their condition when they were diagnosed. By doing so they can do a backtrack and determine the estimate of new HIV cases.
Men having sex with other men accounts for 60 percent of new HIV cases annually. Thirty-eight states plus the District of Columbia have enough cases to help researchers do a reliable estimate.
Among all the states, only Hawaii met the goal. Of the 39 states, 85.2 percent of men who have sex with men were aware of their condition.
It is important for one to be aware of his condition right away instead of waiting for his immune system to deteriorate because starting antiretroviral treatment right away can reduce the chances of dying or suffering from a serious illness by 53 percent.
The result of the said study was published two days earlier before the National HIV Testing Day, Los Angeles Times has learned.
