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ERROR: type should be string, got "https://www.thebody.com/article/more-americans-know-their-hiv-status-but-some-stat\nHIV Prevention Resource Center\nMore Americans Know Their HIV Status, but Some States Still Straggling, Says CDC\nA new report released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirms there are still distressingly high numbers of HIV-positive people who don't know they're living with the virus, but things are improving. Nationwide, approximately one in eight Americans living with HIV don't know they have the virus.\nIn the June 26 issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), the CDC focused on HIV in the lead up to National HIV Testing Day on June 27. \"HIV testing is the essential entry point to a continuum of prevention, health care, and social services,\" noted the agency, \"that improve the quality of life and the length of survival for persons with HIV.\"\nWith that in mind, the National HIV/AIDS Strategy seeks to increase \"to 90 percent the proportion of people living with HIV who are aware of their status.\" The CDC reported that, as of 2012, many states have already met this goal, including Hawaii, New York, Connecticut, Delaware and Colorado.\nThe lowest ranked state in the nation is Louisiana, where the CDC estimated that only 77% of HIV-positive people know their status. Many other Southern states rank low in status awareness, including: Georgia at 81%; Mississippi at 84%; Arkansas, South Carolina and Texas, each with only 83% of HIV-positive residents aware of their status.\nWhile the trend seems to imply that so-called blue states have higher proportions of HIV-positive people who know their status, this is not a hard-and-fast rule based upon the data: Illinois, New Jersey and Massachusetts all have not met the 90% goal for status knowledge.\nThose who don't know their status account for \"nearly one-third of new infections in the U.S.,\" Irene Hall, Ph.D., M.P.H., told TheBody.com. She's chief of the CDC's HIV Incidence and Case Surveillance Branch. Despite this, Hall said that \"it's encouraging that, generally, the majority of infections are diagnosed and once people know they have HIV, they take steps to prevent transmission to partners.\"\nHall added that \"testing is critical to the nation's prevention strategy.\" After all, it's \"the only way to identify the approximately one in eight Americans living with HIV who do not know they are infected.\"\nAcross the U.S., local organizations are working to increase advocacy for and uptake of HIV testing. One such organization is GALAEI. Described as a \"queer Latin@ social justice organization,\" GALAEI provides social services -- including HIV testing -- with a human, not merely clinical, touch.\n\"GALAEI HIV testing counselors take a lot of time and compassion to really ensure that they are having thoughtful conversations with anybody who comes in,\" explained GALAEI's Executive Director Elicia Gonzales, and those counselors \"recognize that a lot of people who walk through the door are afraid of their status.\" That's why GALAEI strives to maintain a reputation surrounding commonsense compassion.\n\"Knowing full well that somebody is going to be met with somebody who is non-judgmental, caring, compassionate and able to link people into medical care if necessary helps alleviate some of those fears\" of testing, Gonzales insisted.\nPennsylvania, where GALAEI is located, ranks near the middle in the CDC's rankings, with an estimated 86% of HIV-positive individuals aware of their status. In Philadelphia, approximately 20,000 people live with HIV.\nHall said that decreases in undiagnosed HIV infection in recent years \"may be due to intensified testing efforts. Additionally, the CDC has pursued a 'High-Impact Prevention' approach to ensure resources are directed to activities that will have the greatest impact on reducing HIV among those most affected in the areas with the greatest need.\" The high-impact approach includes \"public awareness campaigns to increase testing and encourage people with HIV to seek ongoing care,\" as well as unconventional methods of reaching untested or not recently tested individuals.\n\"Continued efforts to implement routine HIV screening in health care settings and focus on targeted testing in non-health care settings,\" explained the CDC, \"might help further reduce undiagnosed HIV infection.\"\nOne innovative way to increase testing is underway in Philadelphia, and GALAEI is part of it.\n\"One of the things that we're excited about is continuing to normalize HIV testing,\" Gonzales explained. \"We're doing a partnership with Philly AIDS Thrift to make HIV testing available in a retail space to reach more people.\" Proceeds from the Philly AIDS Thrift benefit HIV/AIDS treatment and research, and the space is now a cultural landmark in Philadelphia.\nAlong with GALAEI, several other area HIV service organizations are taking part in the retail collaboration to bring HIV testing into those non-health-care settings cited by the CDC.\nGonzales echoed Hall's sentiment that testing is paramount: \"Once people know their status, they decrease in likelihood of being able to transmit the virus to other people and are able to be connected to appropriate medical care the earlier they know their status.\"\nOf particular importance, noted the CDC, is ramping up efforts in jurisdictions where the proportion of people unknowingly living with HIV is particularly high, including California, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Texas. Together, those states account for 68% of all HIV-positive Americans who don't know they're infected.\nKnowing one's HIV status is, of course, a prerequisite for starting treatment. While only 40% of Americans with HIV are under medical care, 37% of those living with HIV are estimated to be taking antiretroviral therapy. And the CDC reported that the overwhelming majority of HIV-positive people on antiretroviral therapy maintain viral suppression.\nIn other words, HIV testing saves lives. And, according to the CDC, the statistics show evidence of progress in identifying those who are living with HIV through testing.\nJosh Kruger is an award-winning writer and commentator in Philadelphia. His work often focuses on HIV/AIDS, cultural stigmas and social problems. You can follow him on Twitter @jawshkruger."

ERROR: type should be string, got "https://www.thebody.com/article/top-nyc-hiv-official-negligible-risk-of-transmissi\nResource Center on Keeping Up With Your HIV Meds\nHIV Prevention and Transmission\nTop NYC HIV Official: 'Negligible Risk' of Transmission With Undetectable Viral Load\nPrevention Access Campaign\nDemetre Daskalakis, M.D., M.P.H.\nEstella Yu\nHIV /AIDS experts from the U.S., Australia, Denmark and Switzerland--including Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, Assistant Commissioner for the Bureau of HIV/AIDS at the New York City Health Department -- endorsed a consensus statement concluding \"negligible risk\" of HIV transmission from a person with HIV who is on antiretroviral therapy (ART) and has had a consistently undetectable viral load for six months and beyond. Dr. Daskalakis is the first U.S. public health official to endorse this consensus statement, which is the first of its kind to bring together leading researchers, HIV activists and communications experts to share their conclusions from the groundbreaking evidence with the public.\nA person with HIV becomes \"undetectable\" when ART suppresses the virus to a level so low in their blood that it cannot be detected by measurements. New Yorkers living with HIV have made great and rapid strides in viral suppression with the most recent surveillance data indicating that 72% have achieved viral load suppression.\n\"Several strong lines of evidence indicate that consistent viral suppression is truly HIV prevention. Given these empiric findings, New Yorkers living with HIV who take their antiretrovirals consistently and have suppressed viral loads should be confident that their risk of HIV transmission is negligible,\" said Dr. Daskalakis.\n\"Being sure about your own health by taking HIV medications means playing and staying sure for your entire community. The challenge is to sustain viral suppression by maintaining a relationship with an HIV healthcare provider who can support continued and consistent antiretroviral adherence.\"\nDr. Myron Cohen, chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at UNC School of Medicine and the Principal Investigator of HPTN 052 the first landmark clinical study on the subject said, \"I'm pleased that Dr. Daskalakis and the NYC Health Department joined the consensus on the dual benefits of early treatment to protect the health of people with HIV and prevent HIV transmission to their sexual partners. We hope that bringing the leading experts together will clear up mixed messages about the subject\".\nIn addition to Dr. Daskalakis and Dr. Cohen, the consensus statement was endorsed by principal investigators and experts from each of the leading studies that examined this issue included Dr. Jens Lundgren (PARTNER study; University of Copenhagen, Denmark), Dr. Andrew Grulich (Opposites Attract study; University of New South Wales, Australia); and Dr. Pietro Vernazza (PARTNER study; Swiss statement; Cantonal Hospital, St. Gallen, Switzerland).\nOnly an estimated 30% of people with HIV in the U.S. are undetectable, and the majority of people with HIV and their medical providers are not yet aware of the extent to which ART prevents HIV transmission to their partners. This points to the need for much greater awareness about the prevention benefits of ART and improved access to HIV testing, treatment and care.\nUnderstanding that people with HIV who are undetectable cannot transmit HIV to their partners will help reduce decades of HIV-related stigma and discrimination and encourage people with HIV to initiate and adhere to a successful ART regimen.\nThe consensus statement is a part of a health equity initiative of the Prevention Access Campaign, an NGO lead by a founding task force of prominent HIV activists, researchers and media experts.\nEditor's Note: JD Davids of TheBody.com is on the founding task force of Prevention Access Campaign."