National HIV Testing Day

June 27 is National HIV Testing Day. This year’s theme, Test Your Way. Do It Today., is a call to get tested now and a reminder that there are more ways than ever to get an HIV test. In a clinic, from your health care provider, at a testing event, at home, from a local organization—get tested your way today!

About 1.1 million people in the United States have HIV, and 1 in 7 of them don’t know it. Young people are the most likely to be unaware of their HIV infection. CDC recommends that everyone between the ages of 13 and 64 get tested for HIV at least once as part of routine health care. But some people are more at risk of getting HIV than others and should be tested at least once a year. Sexually active gay and bisexual men may benefit from more frequent testing (for example, every 3 to 6 months).

Knowing your HIV status is important for your health. If you are living with HIV, you should start treatment as soon as possible. HIV medicine can keep you healthy for many years and greatly reduces your chance of transmitting the virus if you take it the right way every day. And if you’re HIV-negative, you can take steps to prevent HIV. For example, pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, is when people at very high risk for HIV take HIV medicines daily to lower their chances of getting infected. PrEP can stop HIV from taking hold and spreading throughout your body.

Knowing your HIV status helps keep you and your partner healthy. Visit Doing It to learn more.

What Can You Do?

Get the Facts. Learn about HIV, and share this lifesaving information with your family, friends, and community. Get an HIV test at least once as part of routine care if you are 13-64. Use CDC’s HIV Risk Reduction Tool (BETA) to get prevention information tailored to meet your needs.

Get Tested. Get tested for HIV or talk to your health care provider about HIV testing. Knowing your HIV status gives you powerful information to help keep you and your partner healthy. To find a testing site near you,

• use the Doing It testing locator,
• text your ZIP code to KNOWIT (566948), or
• call 1-800-CDC-INFO (232-4636).

You can also use a home testing kit available in drugstores or online. Get Involved . CDC offers many resources to help you raise awareness about HIV testing in your community. Doing It is a national HIV testing and prevention campaign designed to motivate all adults to get tested for HIV and know their status. Join Doing It on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, share videos of volunteers, community leaders, and celebrities explaining why they’re getting tested, and download posters and other materials.

Many HIV tests are now free, fast, and confidential. Test your way, and do it today!

Find more information about HIV testing, and who should be tested, on CDC’s HIV Testing Basics web page.