CDC points to successful strategy for combating HIV transmission

Healthcare Purchasing News, Feb, 2004

Programs that provide voluntary counseling and referral services for sex and needle-sharing partners of HIV-infected persons can be effective in locating persons at risk for HIV infection who are not receiving counseling and testing services through other programs,a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analysis of a North Carolina program found.

More than 20% of the 610 partners tested or retested for HIV infections under the program in 2001 tested positive for HIV, compared with just 0.7% of all HIV tests performed at the state's HIV counseling and testing sites. CDC said such programs can be a cost-effective method for combating the spread of HIV infections, and should be considered an essential component of any comprehensive HIV-prevention program. About one-fourth of the estimated 850,000-950,000 people living with HIV in the U.S. are not aware of their infection and their risk for transmitting the virus, the agency notes.