June 27 is National HIV Testing Day

Orange County Health Care Agency
For Immediate Release: June 25, 2014
Contact: Nicole Stanfield, nstanfield@ochca.com, (714) 834-2178

‘Take the Test, Take Control’
National HIV Testing Day

(Santa Ana) – June 27 marks National HIV Testing Day, which helps promote testing and early diagnosis of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. There are 6,215 individuals living with HIV disease in Orange County with over 250 people being diagnosed with HIV each year. There are an additional estimated 1,364 people living in Orange County who have HIV and don’t know it – many of whom will develop AIDS before realizing they are HIV infected.

Of the 131 AIDS cases diagnosed in 2013, 42.0% (55) were concurrently diagnosed with HIV, indicating that the individual was living with HIV for a long time before the diagnosis. On average, individuals who are concurrently diagnosed are estimated to have been living with HIV for more than 10 years. Many of these people had been to a medical setting like an emergency room, a community health center, or their doctor, but were not tested for HIV.

Because so many individuals are estimated to have HIV and unaware of it, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that every adult between 13 and 64 be tested for HIV at least once in their lifetime and those at high risk of infection be tested at least annually as part of routine care. Making HIV testing a routine part of medical care will help people learn their HIV status before they get sick and will make it possible for them to seek treatment for HIV so that they don’t become sick. An additional benefit to early detection of HIV is that people who know their HIV status are more likely to take steps to prevent spreading HIV to others.

If you have never been tested for HIV, ask your medical provider for an HIV test. In addition to medical providers throughout Orange County, the following agencies offer year-round confidential and anonymous free or low-cost testing in Orange County:

• AIDS Services Foundation: Walk-ins only on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 3 to 8 p.m.; and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (949) 809-8775
• APAIT Health Center: Walk-ins Monday, Thursday and Friday 12 p.m. to 8 p.m., Wednesday 12 p.m. to 7 p.m. For additional hours, please make an appointment, call (714) 636-1669.
• Orange County Health Care Agency: 17th Street Clinic. Walk-ins only on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Tuesday and Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (714) 834-8787
• The Center Orange County: Monday through Friday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., except for Tuesday 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Appointments are strongly preferred, to make an appointment call (714) 953-5428 x 207. Walk-ins welcomed, appointments strongly encouraged.

For more testing sites and information about HIV services in Orange County, call (714) 834-8711 or visit http://ochealthinfo.com/phs/about/dcepi/hiv/sites. Make HIV testing a part of your routine healthcare; Take the Test, Take Control!

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