Private MD News

North Carolina campaign urges people to get HIV test

Category: HIV

In an effort to combat the rising number of people living with HIV, North Carolina has rolled out a campaign that raises awareness about getting an STD test at least once a year.

Chris Cromartie, 19, told the ABC affiliate in the state, WWAY, that he "makes it a point" to get a HIV test every year.

"It's good to know you don't have HIV or AIDS, so I just do it to do it," Cromartie said.

Cromartie's attitude toward the disease is one the Get Real, Get Tested campaign hopes will spread into the state's general population, which officials estimate has more than 33,000 residents living with HIV, according to the article.

"We're seeing an average of 1,800 to 1,900 new cases of HIV being reported each year," Holly Watkins, campaign manager, told the news provider.

Though HIV testing may bring about a positive result for the disease among those who are at higher risk, it is no longer necessarily the death sentence it was back in the 1980s.

An official at the New Hanover County's Health Department told the news provider people are living longer than before thanks to medication and early detection of the disease through a lab test.