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HIV Testing and Counseling

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Encyclopedia of AIDS

Definition

HIV testing and counseling (HTC) has been a mainstay of HIV prevention since the late 1980s in the USA and worldwide. Since its inception, HTC has provided the opportunity for individuals to learn their status, develop a plan to reduce their risk of contracting or transmitting HIV, and, if necessary, link to HIV services. Expanding coverage of HIV testing continues to be an urgent national and global priority (Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS 2014; White House Office of National AIDS Policy 2015; Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion 2016). There has been a growing recognition both in the United States (USA) and internationally that there are a sizeable number of persons living with HIV who are not aware of their HIV status. In the USA, it is estimated that one in eight HIV-positive individuals are unaware of their status (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2016a), and globally, it is estimated that the majority of adults are unaware of their...

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DiCarlo, A., Parish, C., Metsch, L. (2015). HIV Testing and Counseling. In: Hope, T., Stevenson, M., Richman, D. (eds) Encyclopedia of AIDS. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9610-6_103-1

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