Education Law

Join the National HIV Testing Day

BoardBuzz wants to remind you of an important event taking place this week, the National HIV Testing Day (NHTD). Created in 1995, NHTD is a campaign celebrated each year on June 27^th.

Advocating the importance of early diagnosis and treatment, NHTD not only encourages all individuals to get tested, but also emphasizes a need for individuals to ?take control? of their lives. So why should BoardBuzz readers join the cause?

Imagine waking up to the realization that you have been diagnosed with HIV; a disease that is associated with stigma, fear, and severe illness. Now picture this same scenario while also trying to understand the fundamentals of physics, comprehend the complexity of Hamlet, play for your local baseball team, or simply go on your first date. BoardBuzz would like to remind its readers that this is a reality faced by thousands of students affected by HIV.

According to a recent Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) fact sheet, adolescents and young adults between the ages of 13 and 29 years old were shown to be most at risk for HIV infection in 2006, accounting for more new HIV infections (34%) than any other age group. This struggle is especially prominent among youth of racial and ethnic minorities. The CDC reported that 50 percent of all HIV infections between the ages of 13 and 24 years old in 2004 occurred among African Americans. This health disparity was further confirmed by the Kaiser Family Foundation, indicating that minority populations represent a large fraction of both new and existing HIV/AIDS infections (approximately 67 percent in 2007).  So what does this all mean?

It illustrates an increasing need for HIV education, prevention, and testing among young people.  Without early diagnosis or appropriate treatment, the disease may unknowingly spread, or develop into AIDS. And, although BoardBuzz has only provided a small snapshot of the barriers faced by students affected by HIV, the available data show that both education and testing are essential for improving a community?s health and must remain a high priority, especially for schools.

BoardBuzz encourages schools to take action by creating resources, policies, and education programs regarding HIV. In turn, schools may become part of the nationwide effort to increase awareness and prevention of HIV and as a result, provide a sound environment for student achievement.

Check out the CDC?s HIV testing website for more information on events in your community or to learn more about NHTD. 

To learn more about HIV education within schools, order NSBA?s HIV/AIDS Policy Development ?101? packet and download our Living with HIV/AIDS book, which relays the challenges students affected by HIV have dealt with in growing up and at school.

Full post as published by BoardBuzz: NSBA's Daily Weblog on June 22, 2010 (boomark / email).