HIV testing in the African American community

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Despite decades of HIV outreach and education, experts say far too few Americans are being tested for the disease. More than 25 years in, there’s still an AIDS epidemic in the country, and the disease has an alarming hold on the African American community, which accounts for nearly half of all new AIDS cases.

Phill Wilson of the Black AIDS Institute argues for a greater emphasis on testing to fight HIV in the Black community.

A recent report released by the Black AIDS Institute revealed some surprising information said Wilson, "Possibly as high as 50 percent of HIV positive African Americans don’t know their HIV status, and … when people don’t know their HIV status, they’re less likely to protect themselves. Obviously they don’t seek treatment and that continues to contribute to the spread of AIDS. Seventy percent of the new cases in this country are driven by the people who don’t know their HIV status."

He thinks part of the problem is that the media isn’t covering AIDS and awareness of the persistence of the disease isn’t there, "Some of it is that … AIDS is not on the front burner in the media as it has been in the past, and people think that the problem has gone away or they think that it’s someone else’s problem.

"They don’t understand how easy it is to get tested for HIV these days … and that’s an important message of this report. It is extremely easy — today the tests are fast, they’re free, they’re simple — there’s no more blood, no more needles … it’s an oral swab, you can get the results back in less than an hour. So they’re fast and free and easy and painless — you get information that might save your life."

The Black AIDS Institute is launching its Test One Million Campaign to test one million African Americans in a year.

"We can break the back of this disease if we can raise awareness of how easy it is to get HIV testing and how important it is," said Wilson.

Wilson says Black leaders were key in responding to the institute’s campaign and he’s starting to see change in the community, "I’m really, really happy to say that our black leaders are really starting to respond in a big way. We see a large push from the NAACP and the new leadership there, the National Action Network, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference … Essence Communications is responding. We just launched, along with the CDC and their Act Against AIDS initiative a Black AIDS media partnership — which is an unprecedented coalition of some of the country’s largest media organizations.

"All of that I think quite frankly is creating a sea change, making it normal for Black folks to talk about HIV, for us to protect ourselves, and really for us to make sure that we know our HIV status."

Black women and their babies are being infected at an alarming rate. Wilson says the initiative will help empower Black women to protect themselves against the disease. The Black AIDS Institute has partnered with "Essence" magazine on a number of programs throughout the year to spur open conversation about the disease.

"Black women have the power to protect themselves from HIV and AIDS and we need to communicate that over and over again," said Wilson. "Knowing your HIV status is a right and responsibility, knowing your partner’s HIV status can save your life, and I would say no matter who your partner is, it’s important to protect yourself.

More information at  the Black AIDS Institute website.

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