Nationwide HIV testing effort diagnoses 18,000 infected individuals

Many health experts say that one key to reducing the spread of HIV among Americans is to increase instances of testing for sexually transmitted diseases. Informing people that they are infected may help reduce the odds that they will unwittingly spread the disease to others.

A three-year nationwide initiative to increase HIV testing in setting such as hospitals, drug rehabilitation facilities and health clinics successfully diagnosed 18,000 individuals who did not know that they were infected with HIV, according to a recent article published by the Washington Post.

About 75 percent of these people were immediately enrolled in the proper treatment programs, which may help reduce their symptoms and lower their odds of developing AIDS.

"This is a considerable boost to the nation’s health. Did it make a difference to America? I think it did," said Jonathan Mermin, director of HIV/AIDS prevention at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), quoted by the news source.

The CDC reports that there are 1.1 million Americans living with HIV and as many as 21 percent do not know that they are infected.