The June 26, 2009 issue of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) MMWR contained a new report "Testing for Human Immunodeficiency Virus Among High School Students --- United States, 2007." *
The report noted that nationwide, 12.9% of all students and 22.3% of students who have had sexual intercourse had ever been tested for HIV. The prevalence of HIV testing was higher among female (14.8%) than male (11.1%) students and higher among non-Hispanic black (22.4%) than non-Hispanic white (12.7%) and Hispanic (10.7%) students. The prevalence of HIV testing decreased with increasing age at first sexual intercourse from 30.7% among students who had first sexual intercourse before age 13 years to 12.6% among students who had first sexual intercourse at age 17 years or older. To decrease the number of undiagnosed HIV infections among adolescents and promote HIV prevention, the CDC recommends that healthcare providers offer HIV screening as part of routine medical care. In addition, high schools can support those screening efforts by including information on obtaining HIV testing in their HIV curricula.
On Saturday, June 27, 2009 Cream City Medical Society led the annual “Take the Test, Take Control” event in conjunction with the National HIV Testing Day as organized by the National Association of People with AIDS (NAPWA).
In response to the CDC’s recommendation to offer screening and information on HIV testing, this year’s event targeted high school youth through the collaboration with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Milwaukee and was held at the LaVarnway Boys and Girls Club. HIV and STI screening were provided free of charge by a number of local organizations including the AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin, Comprehensive Health Inc., the Health Institute of Milwaukee (HIM), the Milwaukee LGBT Community Center, and the City of Milwaukee Health Department. The event included interactive educational workshops, entertainment and lunch. The event was attended by over 200 people with almost 70 youth screened for HIV, Chlamydia and gonorrhea.
This event was planned and coordinated by an alliance of the following organizations: Boys and Girls Clubs of Milwaukee, AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin, Black Health Coalition of Wisconsin, City of Milwaukee Health Department, Comprehensive Health Inc. and the Center for Urban Population Health.
*The report is based on data from the 2007 national Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS).
