END THE HIV EPIDEMIC. GET TESTED. GET TREATED.

THE FIRST STEP IN ENDING THE HIV EPIDEMIC IN OUR COMMUNITY IS GETTING TESTED FOR HIV AND GETTING TREATED IF YOU TEST POSITIVE FOR THE HIV VIRUS

JUST ENTER YOUR ZIP CODE IN THE BOX BELOW TO FIND AN HIV/STD TESTING SITE NEAR YOU.

We recommend that you call or visit the website of the testing center to learn about any test costs (many are free or low cost) and what type of HIV test is offered: Oraquik HIV1/2 oral antibody test or Alere 7D2649 Determine™ HIV-1/2 Ag/Ab Combo Rapid blood tests. Both tests are FDA approved, the difference is the Alere blood test can detect HIV infections earlier (at about two weeks after HIV exposure), whereas the Oraquick antibody test will detect a positive result 2-8 weeks after exposure for most people, although some people may take up to 90 days to produce the HIV antibodies measured by the test.

The Oraquick test is available to purchase for testing at home and may be available for free from your local government (see our video PrEPsquadDC.org/HomeHIVTest), but we do recommend getting tested in a medical clinic, so that if you do test positive you have all the resources available to you start HIV treatment and live long and strong!

If you do test at home, you need to write down an action plan for yourself before you test, should you test positive, which includes knowing where to go to get a confirmatory re-test and the support and treatment you need to live long and strong.

HIV treatment will keep your immune system strong and you healthy for a lifetime with few or no side effect for most people--so there is no reason to be afraid to get tested and treated. After keeping your HIV viral load undetectable for 6 months, you can no longer transmit the virus to your partner(s) so long as you continue to take your HIV medicine and remain undetectable.

If you test negative, you definitely want to come up with a plan to stay that way, by using the daily PrEP pill, condoms or both. Click on the links at the top of the page to learn more about the daily PrEP pill for HIV prevention.