Arizona health care officials urge women, girls to get tested for HIV
Mar 10, 2017, 4:50 AM
FILE - In this Monday Nov. 29, 2010 file photo a patient undergoes a pin prick blood test inside a mobile healthcare clinic parked in downtown Johannesburg. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell, File)
(AP Photo/Denis Farrell, File)
PHOENIX — Arizona health care officials are urging women and girls to get tested for HIV as the nation recognizes National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day on Friday.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than a quarter of a million women live with HIV in the United States.
HIV, which stands for human immunodeficiency virus, attacks the body’s immune system and can lead to AIDS, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, if left untreated.
Armando Carrillo with the Phoenix-based Southwest Behavioral & Health Services has only one message for women who have not gotten tested for the virus: Get tested — now.
“The HIV prevalence is so high that individuals are walking in to their doctors every day and finding out they’re positive,” Carrillo said. “But so much damage has already been done to their bodies.”
The virus is easier to prevent or fight if it is detected earlier rather than later, Carrillo said, and the only way to know for sure if you have HIV is to get tested.
Individuals having unprotected sex are at risk for HIV, but using illegal drugs, sharing drug needles and engaging in other dangerous behaviors can lead to the virus as well.
While there is no cure for HIV or AIDS today, someone who is treated before the disease has advanced and continues treatment can live a long life.
For those who are battling HIV or AIDS, Southwest Behavioral & Health Services provides housing and other services to help assist homeless individuals with HIV/AIDS reintegrate into society.
