HIV testing among racial/ethnic minorities--United States, 1999.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in the United States disproportionately affect racial/ethnic minority populations, particularly blacks and Hispanics. Of the 774,467 AIDS cases reported to CDC during June 1981-December 2000, blacks and Hispanics accounted for 56% of cases, although they represented 25% of the U.S. population during this period. In 2000, the incidence of adult and adolescent AIDS cases per 100,000 population was 74.2 for blacks, 30.4 for Hispanics, and 7.9 for whites. HIV counseling and testing services potentially can reduce the risk for infection with HIV and provide referrals to HIV-infected persons for medical care. An estimated 300,000 HIV-infected persons in the United States may be unaware of their HIV serostatus. In 2001, CDC introduced the Serostatus Approach to Fighting the Epidemic (SAFE), which focuses on increasing the number of high-risk and infected persons who know their serostatus and helps infected persons receive and maintain appropriate medical care and reduce their risk for transmitting infection. CDC analyzed data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) to determine the rate at which racial/ethnic minorities are getting tested for HIV. This report describes the result of the analysis, which indicates that minority populations are being tested for HIV infection at a high rate; however, a substantial number of persons at risk for HIV have not been tested. Prevention programs should continue to develop innovative methods for counseling and testing at-risk persons.