Every year on June 27 National HIV Testing Day (NHTD) is observed. As the name suggests, a day to spread awareness and encourage HIV testing. About 37.7 million people are infected with HIV or Human Immunodeficiency Virus worldwide. There is no definite cure for HIV infection yet. Therefore, it is very important to know about HIV precautions and ways to manage them. This is where regular HIV testing comes into play. CDC recommends everyone between the ages of "13 and 64 should get tested for HIV at least once as part of routine health care." People who have had more than one sex partner or are having sex with someone whose sexual history they don’t know should get tested more often.

Why is HIV Test Necessary?

HIV test is absolutely necessary to prevent a delay in detecting HIV infection. Symptoms of HIV infection start appearing very late, more often when it is too late. Therefore, you should get regular HIV tests done on the advice of the doctor. At the same time, if you have doubts about whether you have come in contact with the HIV virus or not, an HIV test should be done. It is important that you get tested for HIV early because you may look and feel healthy, but the infection will impact your health.

If the infection is tested early when a person is still fit and healthy, they tend to receive treatment and care sooner and therefore, they are likely to live a normal life even with HIV treatment. It is estimated that in 2015, there were about 21,00,000 people living with HIV in India, out of which about 4,41,000 people were not aware of it and could have spread the virus further. People who do not know they have HIV will be unable to benefit from effective treatment. HIV is spread through body fluids (such as blood, semen, and vaginal fluids). For example, having sex without a condom and through used needles.

Why is Late Detection of HIV Dangerous?

  • If HIV is not treated, it damages your immune system so much that you can reach a life-threatening condition such as pneumonia. It takes about five to ten years for this infection to cause this level of damage to your immune system.

  • If HIV is treated at this stage, which will be called delayed diagnosis, then antiretroviral medicine might work. However, this can affect the quality of your overall health.

  • According to surveys, most of the people who died of HIV were those who were diagnosed late.

You can protect yourself from HIV by wearing a condom when having sex whether oral, anal, or penetrative. If you are infected, this will also prevent the infection from spreading to others. It is very important to have safe sex and if you suspect that you have HIV, you can take a course called PEP, that is, prophylaxis after exposure.

(This article is written for informative purposes only and shouldn’t be substituted for professional advice. Laws related to the subject discussed in the article may vary according to region.)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 27, 2022 08:40 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).