Monday, June 27, is National HIV Testing Day, whose goal is to encourage people who do not know their HIV status to be tested. The Nassau County Department of Health and the Nassau County HIV Commission, in cooperation with Long Island Association for AIDS Care, (LIAAC), Long Island Minority AIDS Coalition (LIMAC), Planned Parenthood of Nassau County (PPNC) and Circulo de la Hispanidad will be holding a press conference at noon on June 27th at the offices of Circulo de la Hispanidad at 91 North Franklin Street in Hempstead to discuss the importance of HIV testing to prevent its spread, and to get infected persons into treatment.

Twenty-five percent of HIV infected persons do not know they are infected, and so continue to potentially put others at risk. Almost 40% of persons diagnosed with HIV infection progress to AIDS within a year of being diagnosed, suggesting that they have been infected for many years before testing. Undiagnosed persons do not receive life-prolonging Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Treatment (HAART).

The New York State Department of Health has recently taken steps to increase the number of persons being HIV by removing or reducing barriers to HIV testing, including streamlining HIV pre-test counseling using simplified "Informed Consent" forms. Other actions have included promoting use of rapid test technology, improving access of persons with HIV to health and supportive services, and better monitoring the quality of HIV care.

The NYSDOH recommends that physicians routinely discuss and offer HIV testing with patients, regardless of perceived risk and adopt a "low threshold" for recommending an HIV test. This includes all sexually active persons, persons with a history of substance abuse, and persons in areas of high seroprevalence (i.e., >1%), including major urban areas. Testing is recommend in most medical settings including emergency rooms.

National HIV Testing Day (NHTD) is an annual campaign produced by the National Association of People with AIDS (NAPWA-US) to encourage at-risk individuals to receive voluntary HIV counseling and testing. NAPWA distributes campaign kits to community groups and health departments of all sizes to help create NHTD campaigns and events targeting their local communities.