HUNTSVILLE, AL (WAFF) -
Are you HIV positive or HIV negative? You may soon be able to get that answer in a pharmacy.
The Centers for Disease control recently launched a pilot program designed to make the tests easier to obtain.
CDC officials said the tests need to be more accessible because one in five people who are infected with HIV do not know they are infected. They want to take away the barriers and stigma that keep so many people from getting tested every year.
Mary Elizabeth Marr, Executive Director of the AIDS Action Coalition in Huntsville said there are 900 HIV positive patients in North Alabama and 600 of those are in the Huntsville area.
Knowing your status is important because experts said someone who knows is 98 percent less likely to infect other people. Marr said before all of this, you should think about protecting yourself from contracting the disease.
"Most people do not consider themselves to be at risk. They don't think anybody that they are going to have sexual contact with or blood to blood contact with is going to be infected with HIV and AIDS," said Marr. "You can look and feel for years. So, all of these things combat and make it more difficult to slow down the spread of the disease."
If you are between the ages of 13 and 65, Marr said you should get tested every year as part of your annual check-up. Although some Alabama pharmacies are taking part in this CDC trial program, none of the selected stores are in North Alabama.
Free and confidential HIV tests are available at the AIDS Action Coalition Huntsville office. The test only takes about 20 minutes to complete.
The offices are located at 600 Saint Clair Ave SW, Building 6, Suite #14 Huntsville, AL 35801. For more information call (256) 536-4700.
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