National HIV Testing Day

National HIV Testing Day (NHTD) was first observed on June 27, 1995. This is a day to encourage people to get tested for HIV, know their status, and get linked to care and treatment.

The theme for 2024, “Level up your self-love: check your status” emphasizes valuing yourself, showing yourself compassion and respect, and honoring your health needs with self-love. Knowing your HIV status helps you choose options to stay healthy. Visit CDC’s NHTD page in English and Spanish to learn more.

HIV testing, including self-testing, is the pathway to engaging people in care to keep them healthy, regardless of their test result. People who receive a negative test result can take advantage of HIV prevention tools such as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), condoms, and other sexual health services such as vaccines and testing for sexually transmitted infections. People who receive a positive test result can rapidly start HIV treatment (antiretroviral therapy, or ART) to stay healthy.

Read the full article on HIV.gov.

There are any number of resources to find local free HIV testing. Just for National Testing Day, you can visit participating Wallgreens for a free test. You can search on the CDC’s testing database using your zip code to find neighborhood testing centers. You can also order a free in-home HIV test kit through the mail through our getmyHIVtest.com program.