HIV/AIDS Testing Clinics

HIV/AIDS Testing 

Virginia Department of Health offers a wide variety of HIV awareness, prevention and testing programs:

HIV Prevention Among Communities of Color -  HIV prevention interventions within minority communities at increased risk for HIV infection. More than 30% of the grant award is for HIV prevention among Black and Latino men who have sex with men.  

 
AIDS Services and Education Grants - support outreach, innovative prevention interventions for hard to reach populations and supportive services for persons living with HIV, target transgender individuals.


 
Men who have Sex with Men HIV Prevention Program -addresses the disparity between the impact of the epidemic on gay and bisexual men and the amount of funding being targeted to this community.
 
African-American Faith Initiative - stemmed from request for faith-based HIV programs in minority communities.


Community HIV Testing Services- provides HIV antibody testing in outreach and non-invasive settings for men who have sex with men, injection drug users, sexual partners of these populations, high risk heterosexuals and incarcerated individuals.

Although these programs are available to the general population, they typically target individuals who are more susceptible to the disease. A staggering one in four individuals infected with HIV are not aware they have the virus. This presents a major public health concern to susceptible populations and has led to the installation of various testing and prevention programs. 

In Sub-Saharan Africa, less than 12% of people who want to be tested for HIV are able to do so currently. The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS released an initiative the recommends HIV testing be a standard part of medical care in all African healthcare facilities regardless of the reason they came in for. I don't believe that mandatory HIV screening is financially or operationally feasible in Sub-Saharan Africa. Africa is plagued with Malaria, Tuberculosis, poverty, poor living conditions and malnutrition. Diarrhea is one of the biggest killers of children living in Africa. The AIDS/HIV epidemic should not be minimized and public health officials should continue to work towards eradication but HIV testing requires funding and support. In a previous blog post, I discussed necessary and sufficient causes of disease. If we used the HIV testing funds and operations staff to decrease malnutrition and provide safer water sources, individuals would be less susceptible to communicable diseases. Although HIV testing is necessary, it is not sufficient to eradicate HIV/AIDS.

HIV testing clinic in Sub-Saharan Africa

The HIV testing initiative in the United States has taken place in conjunction with increased access to treatment and care. The highly developed United States healthcare system permits discussion of mandatory vaccinations and HIV testing because of available resources. African countries do not have the time, resources or personnel to implement HIV testing. Even in the United States, the HIV testing initiative has met strong opposition. First, who will fund this project? Even insured individuals would have to absorb the cost of the test. Individuals in low socioeconomic classes are more susceptible to HIV/AIDS and may not be able to afford the test. Second, routine testing may lead to lower-quality or unethical testing programs. In an effort to increase the number of individuals testing for HIV, hospitals and clinics may sacrifice the integrity of their organization. Finally, individuals living with HIV, still face disease related stigma and discrimination.