"Know your status" – not only on the occasion of World AIDS Day 2018

"Know your status" – not only on the occasion of World AIDS Day 2018

Saturday, December 1st will be World AIDS Day – the best time for a free test in Linz.

In Austria, at least one new HIV diagnosis is established every day. For several years now, the number of these positive HIV tests at the start is at a similar level. According to Aidshilfe, 510 new seropositive diagnoses were registered in 2017.

Around 1,600 people living with HIV currently live in Upper Austria. "Everyone needs to know their HIV status so they can start treatment early in the event of HIV infection." Starting treatment as soon as possible will improve the quality of life and life expectancy. "In addition, people receiving effective treatment for HIV will not be able to treat HIV transferred," says Erik Pfefferkorn of Aidshilfe in Upper Austria.

Get tested for free

On World AIDS Day, on Saturday, December 1, people interested in the 49-year-old Linzer Club (Schillerstraße 49) can be tested for free at 9 pm on HIV and syphilis. On Monday 3 December, the Aidshilfe Oberösterreich organizes a symposium with experts and stakeholders on the subject in the new Linz Town Hall from 9:15 am.

Despite progress in the fight against HIV, 25% of people around the world do not know they are HIV-positive. Last year, about 9.4 million people were living with the IH virus on land without knowing it, according to a recent UNAIDS report. In 2015, however, this share was still at 33%.

In Germany, according to calculations by the Robert Koch Institute, about 13% of respondents have no idea of ​​infection with the IH virus. In Austria, the situation should be similar. According to this situation, the situation in West and Central Africa is particularly problematic: although only 6% of the world's population lived there, one third of the estimated 9.4 million people were infected with HIV through ignorance. Estimates are obtained by UNAIDS using modeling data.

In addition, in more than half of people infected with HIV worldwide, the virus is not suppressed in the blood, the report says. This may be due to the fact that a patient is not treated or that the treatment has not been completed. Thus, if HIV is not properly removed, the patient can transmit the virus. (Bar)