National HIV Testing Day and public health initiatives

National HIV testing Day has captured increased attention throughout the country as more and more state authorities as well as local communities are interested in taking part in the two days initiative which aims at encouraging people to get tested for HIV.

This year's slogan "Get tested, get control" tries to bring attention to the important problem that is now HIV not only in the world but in the United States as well. Statistics from the Department of Health and Human Services show that over a million people are infected with the virus (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2007). According to the same source "one-fourth of them do not know that they are HIV-infected" (2007). The campaign targets precisely these people and in the end the entire population in order to raise awareness of the potential of this lack of knowledge.

The National Day for HIV Testing is given wide attention in the Alachua County as well. In this sense, the Health Department in the County has organized points for free testing as well as counseling for those in need. Moreover, for a comprehensive campaign, the testing points also offer a wide array of information about HIV and means to deal with situations involving the virus and AIDS (Alachua County, 2008). "The Alachua County Health Department will be open to the public on Thursday 26th June in the evening from 5-8:30 and during normal business hours on Friday 27th June for mass testing" (Keep it forward, 2008).

Alachua County represents an important part of the Area 3 in Florida. The state in itself "ranks second in the annual incidence of HIV infection, and the incidence unfortunately continues to rise. And these are only the reported cases. It is estimated that approximately an equal number of Floridians are infected and don't know it." (Keep it forward, 2008)

Alachua County and is confronting with an increasing number of people infected with HIV. The worrisome aspect however is the percentage of young people affected by the virus. In this sense, more than 16% of people aged 20-29 are reported to have the HIV virus. However, by comparison to almost 60% of the people with HIV that are over 30, the figures are rather frightening (Alachua County Health Department, 2007).