CDC recommends routine HIV testing

ed. CDC recommends routine HIV testing

Jenn Kaiser

Staff Writer

NYU students should be regularly tested for HIV in response to recommendations by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, university officials said.

The CDC announced Sept. 21 that everyone between the ages 13 and 64 should be routinely tested. There are currently 250,000 Americans living with HIV who are unaware of it because they have not been tested, the CDC reported.

"There are a lot of people walking around who aren't getting treated and could infect someone else," NYU Health Center medical director Carlo Ciotoli said. "College age is when people become sexually active for the first time, or more sexually active, so it's a good time to start practicing safe sexual behavior, which includes HIV testing."

Previously, the CDC recommended that only people in high-risk groups drug users and homosexuals should be tested routinely. The government organization now suggests that HIV testing be a part of a regular physical.

"We urgently need new approaches to reach the quarter-million Americans with HIV who do not realize they are infected," CDC director Julie Gerberding said in a statement.

An estimated one in 500 college students are infected with HIV in the U.S., and sexually active college students are especially at risk for contracting HIV because of peer pressure, immaturity and substance abuse, according to the CDC.

Linda Kim, a sexual health advocate peer educator at NYU, said a person's risk of contracting HIV depends on that person's personal behavior and not on their demographic.

"College students are not more at risk than any other group," she said, although she added, "Even if someone hasn't engaged in risky behavior, getting tested might serve as an example to others."

The CDC received a mixed response to its announcement. One of their recommendations calls for no specific consent requirement for HIV tests or pre-test counseling, allowing doctors to test patients as part of routine blood work. The initiative aims to make it as easy as possible to be tested and urged health officials to alter laws that might prevent someone from getting tested quickly.

The health center must still abide by New York s

tate law, which requires consent and counseling for an HIV test.

Ciotoli said he understands why changing the laws is necessary if it makes getting tested easier.

The health center is committed to making HIV testing "as easy and accessible for everyone to get tested that wants to get tested," Ciotoli said. Today, the health center provides free and confidential HIV tests for all students, and even reaches out to residence halls by offering testing there. Although this is a small scale initiative, Ciotoli hopes that this will raise awareness about testing in general.

College students may have a false sense of security about contracting HIV, according to a study presented at the National HIV Prevention Conference in 2003. The study, which examined the relationship between HIV testing and sexual behaviors, found that the general risk perception of college students was between "low" and "very low." Moreover, the study found that the frequency of condom use did not differ between students that had been tested for HIV and untested students.

CDC officials said that routine testing may help remove the stigma attached to AIDS and HIV testing.

"On the whole [the new recommendations] are good to raise awareness and may decrease the stigma [of getting tested]," Ciotoli said.