National Transgender HIV Testing Day

April 18

National Transgender HIV Testing Day (NTHTD) recognizes the importance of routine HIV testing, awareness of HIV status, and HIV prevention and treatment in people who are transgender or gender nonbinary. NTHTD, observed annually on April 18, was established in 2016 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the University of California, San Francisco, Center of Excellence for Transgender Health.  

Transgender people, especially transgender women, are disproportionately affected by HIV in the United States. In 2021, 2 percent of new HIV diagnoses in the United States occurred among transgender people, and transgender women accounted for 89 percent of new diagnoses in all transgender people. According to CDC, issues such as transphobia or HIV-related stigma and discrimination may hinder access to HIV services for transgender people. HIV testing is critical so people know their HIV status. Knowledge of HIV status is the first step in accessing HIV treatment, if needed, or prevention services like pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for people who do not have HIV but may benefit from increased prevention strategies.  

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) HIV research program, coordinated by the NIH Office of AIDS Research (OAR), supports research to improve access to HIV prevention, testing, and treatment services. For example, many transgender people who could benefit from PrEP are not using it. NIH research can help determine effective medications for PrEP in transgender populations, as well as strategies to encourage PrEP uptake. NIH-supported research found that the long-acting injectable HIV drug cabotegravir is highly effective in preventing HIV among cisgender men and transgender women who have sex with men.  

Social Media

Use the hashtag #NTHTD to follow the conversation on social media. Download graphics and find sample social media posts to promote HIV testing, prevention, and treatment in the transgender community on the CDC Awareness Days webpage.  
 

National Transgender HIV Testing Day (NTHTD) logo

Additional Resources

NIH Office of AIDS Research

  • 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. Reducing HIV-related health disparities and stigma and determining the most effective strategies to encourage uptake of HIV testing and prevention are priorities for HIV-related research. 
  • HIVinfo.NIH.gov offers up-to-date HIV information to the general consumer, people with HIV, and those who care for them. Maintained by OAR, HIVinfo provides HIV-related infographics, fact sheets, and links to HIV-related resources from federal and nonfederal sources. The HIV Source Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex (LGBTQI+) collection provides resources on HIV research, prevention, testing, and treatment in transgender communities.   
  • This OAR Director’s Blog post discusses challenges in HIV testing for transgender people and how NIH is addressing these concerns to facilitate HIV testing and improve health outcomes for transgender people.

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 to people with HIV or at risk of HIV acquisition. This HIV.gov blog post discusses the importance of empowering HIV self-testing in gender-diverse populations. Another HIV.gov blog post discusses the importance of NTHTD.  

CDC

CDC’s Awareness Days webpage provides resources to help spread awareness about HIV in transgender communities. In addition, CDC’s Let’s Stop HIV Together campaign empowers communities, partners, and health providers to promote HIV testing, prevention, and treatment. CDC also has a fact sheet to learn about HIV and Transgender People.