Today the US celebrates National HIV Testing Day and, with the help of many volunteers, lots of events for HIV prevention and awareness will be organized around the country. The Greater Than AIDS 'I Got Tested' campaign helps people that want to organize a testing event and testing online campaigns. The project helps people by making them aware of their social power so that they can use it by acting up. We really love this.
There is a message to share in our communities: the importance of celebrations like NHTD is given by the fact that public opinion, on one side, understands that HIV is now a manageable disease but, on the other hand, it still sees it as a social taboo, something to keep in the dark. From a certain point of view you can understand some of the reasons why this is happening. For instance, it's quite natural to instinctively try to leave ‘bad' things behind in order to look for a brighter future - many of us do this during our life. The start of the AIDS epidemic was a moment of worldwide panic and nobody remembers it with pleasure. However this doesn't imply that we can rush fast with our imagination towards a rapid conclusion of such a complex problem.
Society is ‘normalizing' its view on HIV and this is an important goal that many researchers and activists helped to reach. Education of the new generations is fundamental to have a real impact on what will happen in the next years. In fact we don't all have the same view on what are the right things to teach young adults for them to be able to grow and live in a responsible and healthy way.
For us they are: respect, awareness, curiosity and keeping a sense of humor. Know what you are doing -this is the way you'll really enjoy your life.
Do you want to know why YOU should get tested too? Then watch this 1 minute video by Testing4All:   http://www.testing4all.org/