Seeking HIV Tests for All in US Age 15-65

November 28, 2012

A woman in Los Angeles gets an HIV test.

From VOA Learning English, this is the Health Report in Special English.

An independent advisory group is suggesting that everyone in the United States age fifteen to sixty-five should get tested for HIV. HIV is the infection that causes AIDS.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force says wider public acceptance of HIV testing could lead to earlier treatment of cases, and further slow the spread of AIDS. The task force is collecting public comments on its proposed recommendation until December seventeenth.

The sixteen medical experts on the task force are appointed by the government. They examine scientific evidence for and against health care services designed to prevent disease.

Carlos Del Rio is co-director of the Emory Center for AIDS Research in Atlanta, Georgia. He is not a member of the task force, but says early discovery and treatment of HIV is important for two reasons.

"People are less likely to progress to disease and also, as importantly, is people are less likely to transmit to others. So starting therapy early leads to better disease outcomes."

HIV is spread through unprotected sex or contact with an infected person's blood. In two thousand five, the task force recommended testing for all pregnant women and anyone at increased risk of HIV.