Health District celebrates National HIV Testing Day, encourages HIV Testing to end the HIV epidemic

Jun 27, 2022

June 27, 2022. Reno/Sparks, Nev. – In honor of National HIV testing Day, the Washoe County Health District (WCHD) encourages community members to get tested for HIV, know your status and to get linked to care and treatment.

It’s also imperative that people ask their providers for an HIV test, along with testing for other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Providers are also encouraged to follow changes to Nevada Revised Statutes by offering HIV and STI testing to patients in primary care, emergency departments, and obstetrics and gynecology settings.

National HIV Testing Day is observed annually on June 27, and started in, 1995. While the HIV epidemic continues to affect our communities, services are available to make HIV testing and HIV care accessible, affordable and routine.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Nevada ranks fourth in the nation in rates of HIV diagnoses per 100,000 people at 19.8, trailing only Florida, Georgia and Louisiana.

From a national perspective, the Black community is affected most by new HIV diagnoses. The CDC reported in 2020 that 42% of new HIV cases were Black/African American, followed by Hispanic/Latino (27%) and White (26%) for people 13 and older, though that data should be interpreted with caution due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on access to HIV testing and pandemic-related factors.

WCHD offers rapid HIV testing in our Family Planning and Sexual Health Clinic as well as free, confidential testing opportunities in the community.

Testing information and provider assistance are available by calling 775-328-2470. More information about our Sexual Health Program, including clinic, community and STI/HIV information, can be found on our website at www.washoecounty.gov/sexualhealth.

Provider education is also available to support implementing the changes in legislation and enhance their knowledge on the current best practices in HIV and STI testing.

The CDC recommends that everyone between the ages of 13 and 64 get tested for HIV at least once. People who have condomless sex, multiple partners, inject substances or have partners with higher risk should get tested at least once a year or more often.

The CDC’s HIV testing guidelines provide comprehensive information on who should get tested for HIV and how often. Yet, despite these recommendations, 1 in 8 people with HIV in the United States still do not know they have the virus and nearly 40 percent of new infections are transmitted by people with undiagnosed HIV. For people who are unaware of their status, HIV testing is the pathway to engaging in HIV prevention and treatment services.

Everyone needs to know their HIV status. It is particularly important for people with HIV to be aware of their status so they can begin HIV treatment (antiretroviral therapy) to improve their health. People with HIV who take HIV treatment as prescribed, get and keep an undetectable viral load (or stay virally suppressed) can live long, healthy lives and will not transmit HIV to their sex partners.

This is also referred to as “Undetectable=Untransmittable” or “U=U.” For people who do not have HIV, testing can be the bridge to effective prevention tools such as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), condoms, and other HIV prevention services.

The Washoe County Health District is nationally accredited by the Public Health Accreditation Board and has jurisdiction over all public health matters in Reno, Sparks, and Washoe County through the policy-making Washoe County District Board of Health. The District consists of five divisions: Administrative Health Services, Air Quality Management, Community and Clinical Health Services, Environmental Health Services and Epidemiology & Public Health Preparedness. More info can be found here.