Imagine living with HIV and not knowing that you have it. That is the reality for one in five HIV positive Americans, according to the Centers for Disease Control. HIV, like many STDs, often shows no symptoms and can go undetected.
As National HIV Testing Day (June 27th) nears, MTV and Greater Than AIDS are encouraging young people to get tested for STDs and HIV by providing free testing sites in 10 cities during Get Yourself Tested Week.
The testing sites include confidential medical centers in Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles and Houston.
Today, women account for more than 1 in 4 new HIV/AIDS cases in the United States. Of these newly infected women, about 2 out of 3 are African-American. Most of these women got HIV from having unprotected sex with a man.
AIDS is now the leading cause of death for African-American women ages 25–34. And African-American women are more than 21 times as likely to die from HIV/AIDS as non-Hispanic white women.
All people should know their HIV status. The only sure way to know if you have HIV is to get tested.
Also check out this book, "The Naked Truth: Young, Beautiful, and (HIV) Positive" by Marvelyn Brown.
