National HIV Testing Day
Level Up Your Self-Love: Check Your Status
National HIV Testing Day (NHTD) encourages HIV testing as a critical tool to help end the HIV epidemic in the United States. Observed annually on June 27, the 2024 NHTD theme is Level Up Your Self-Love: Check Your Status, emphasizing self-compassion, self-respect, and self-love in honoring health needs by getting an HIV test. When someone knows their HIV status, they can choose options to stay healthy.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2022, an estimated 1.2 million people in the United States had HIV, but 13 percent of people with HIV did not know their HIV status. HIV testing is the pathway to engage people in care and help them stay healthy, regardless of the test result. People who have a positive HIV test can start antiretroviral therapy (ART) to stay healthy. People who have a negative HIV test can learn how to access HIV prevention options like pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). CDC recommends that everyone aged 13–64 get tested for HIV at least once as part of routine health care. People with certain risk factors—such as having sex with someone who has HIV, sharing needles or drug injection equipment, or being treated for another sexually transmitted infection (STI)—should be tested for HIV at least once per year.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) HIV research program, coordinated by the NIH Office of AIDS Research, supports research into new technology that will make it easier for people to get tested for HIV. NIH also conducts research to understand the best strategies to encourage different populations to get tested for HIV and access HIV prevention and treatment services.
Social Media
Use the hashtag #HIVTestingDay to follow the conversation on social media. Download graphics and find sample social media posts on the HIV.gov NHTD webpage and the CDC HIV Awareness Days webpage.
NIH Office of AIDS Research (OAR)
- FY 2021–2025 NIH Strategic Plan for HIV and HIV-Related Research (NIH HIV Strategic Plan): The NIH HIV Strategic Plan provides a roadmap for NIH to guide HIV and HIV-related research and direct HIV research funding to the highest-priority areas to help end HIV. NIH has several priorities for HIV-related research. Key research areas include identifying factors that may contribute to inequities in HIV testing and developing programs that encourage people to be tested for HIV.
- This OAR Director’s Blog post highlights NHTD 2022 and provides an overview of NIH research on HIV testing and the role of research in developing strategies to increase HIV testing.
- HIVinfo.NIH.gov, maintained by OAR, provides HIV-related infographics, fact sheets, and links to additional resources. These include resources on HIV prevention and testing:
- HIV Testing (Fact sheet)
- Just Diagnosed: Next Steps After Testing Positive for HIV (Fact sheet)
- The Basics of HIV Prevention (Fact sheet)
- Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) (Fact sheet)
- PrEP vs. PEP (Infographic)
HIV.gov
HIV.gov provides information on the U.S. government’s HIV response. HIV.gov aims to expand visibility of relevant federal HIV policies, programs, and resources and to increase knowledge about HIV and access to HIV services. The NHTD webpage provides information about HIV testing and prevention.
CDC
Learn about different options for HIV testing on the CDC website. CDC’s Let’s Stop HIV Together campaign provides resources to empower communities, partners, and health care provides to promote HIV testing, prevention, and treatment. The Together TakeMeHome campaign provides free, confidential HIV self-test kits by mail. People in the United States, including Puerto Rico, can order a free test and access additional resources on the website.
Additional Resources
Over 500 Walgreens stores in 44 states, Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico will provide free rapid HIV tests, as well as tests for other STIs, on June 27. Find a participating location near you.