If HIV testing became easier and more routine, similar to other health screenings like cholesterol testing, could the end of new HIV cases become a reality?

It might, suggests Mary van den Berg-Wolf, M.D., FACP, deputy director of the Comprehensive HIV Program at Temple University’s School of Medicine and Temple University Hospital. She testified recently at a hearing for Pennsylvania Senate Bill 1261, designed to replace the Confidentiality of HIV-Related Information Act, Pennsylvania Act 148.

“Act 148 puts up barriers to HIV testing,” she said, explaining that it requires written, informed consent along with face-to-face, post-test delivery of results and counseling.

Currently, HIV testing is offered by health departments, doctors' offices, hospitals and sites specifically set up to provide HIV testing.

Senate Bill 1261, which reflects new guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, would make HIV testing a routine part of general medical care and removes the requirements for written informed consent and post-test, in-person meetings. Instead, it calls for opt-out testing which means that individuals only sign a form when declining to undergo the testing.

HIV testing and knowing one’s HIV status are critical to preventing new cases, which has amounted to 40,000 per year in the United States since 2000.

Research has found that people who test positive for HIV change their behaviors to reduce the likelihood that they spread HIV. In fact, 75 percent of HIV-infected people know their status and account for 30-46 percent of new HIV infections yearly, while the 25 percent of HIV-infected people who are unaware they have HIV are responsible for the spread to 54-70 percent of new infections yearly.

Links to Dr. van den Berg’s testimony: www.senatorerickson.com/health/051408/vandenBerg-Wolf.pdf and http://nova.pasenategop.com/Hearings/2008/0508/phw-051408-sb1261.wmv.

To locate an HIV testing site, visit the CDC HIV testing database or call CDC-INFO (formerly the CDC National AIDS Hotline) at 1-800-CDC-INFO (1-800-232-4636) 24 Hours/Day.