June 27 is National HIV Testing Day (NHTD). On this day we encourage people to get tested for HIV, know their status, and get linked to treatment and care. This year’s NHTD theme is “HIV Testing is Self-care.” Getting tested and knowing your HIV status can help you stay healthy. There are many free, easy, fast, and confidential testing options including self-testing.
Self-testing has a number of benefits, it is convenient, provides privacy for those who might have anxiety going to a clinic, allows you to set your own pace, including when you want to take the test and how you want to engage in medical and prevention services, gives you power over disclosure of status, and autonomy of medical decisions. There are two different types of at-home testing options. Learn more below:
Rapid home self-test
- An oral fluid test.
- Can provide results within 20 minutes.
- If the test is negative and you have not had a possible exposure during the previous 3 months, you can be confident you don’t have HIV.
Mail-in self-test
- Includes a kit to collect dried blood from a finger prick.
- The sample is sent to a lab for testing and the results are provided by a health care provider.
- If the test is negative and you have not had a possible exposure during the previous 3 months, you can be confident you don’t have HIV.
Order a free at-home testing kit with TakeMeHome HERE. Find in-person testing and other HIV prevention services HERE.
NBJC has created the Words Matter HIV Toolkit to support Black people in having asset-based, stigma-free conversations about holistic health and wellness. The toolkit encourages loved ones to stay healthy by taking medicine if they live with HIV or are on PrEP.
Digital Assets:
You can engage in National HIV Testing Day and help spread essential information about HIV transmission and testing using our NHTD digital assets. Share these assets across social media platforms to start conversations with those who follow you and use the hashtags: #NHTD, #HIVTestingDay, and #StopHIVTogether.
Sample Posts:
- Taking an HIV test is taking care of you. Knowing your status gives you powerful information to help stay healthy. Learn more about HIV testing options: nbjc.org #NHTD
- Today is National #HIVTestingDay. HIV testing is self-care because knowing your status gives you powerful information to help stay healthy. There are more HIV testing options than ever before. Choose a test and choose to take care of you: nbjc.org
- Taking a rapid HIV self-test is taking care of you! HIV testing can be free, easy, fast, and private. This #NHTD find self-testing options that work for you: nbjc.org
