The 1st of December is World AIDS Day. To honour the 20th anniversary of the first World Aids Day that was first supported at the 1988 World Summit of Ministers of Health on Programmes for AIDS Prevention, the American College of Physicians issued new guidelines that doctors offer HIV testing on a walk-in basis during business hours from 8 a.m. to 3.30 p.m. Monday to Friday.

Despite improved access to retroviral treatment and better screening methods, the AIDS epidemic claimed an estimated 2 million of lives in 2007. According to current estimates by UNAIDS and WHO, by the end of 2007, there were 2.7 million new infections. More than 1 million people are infected with HIV in the United States.

More than one-fifth of Americans living with HIV are unaware of their infection. They are not receiving appropriate care for their condition and can transmit the virus to others. A report released by the CDC found that in 2006, just 40.4% of adults in the U.S. between the ages of 18 to 64-years old were tested for HIV. From 2001 through 2006, the testing rate stalled.

Currently, just 40 percent of adults in the country have been tested for the fatal and incurable virus. The CDC urged for “new strategies such as expanded screening in health-care settings” to have an early diagnosis of HIV, as early diagnoses and treatment are key steps in controlling the AIDS epidemic. CDC scientists began recommending universal HIV testing in September 2006 to reduce the number of people who are infected with the virus but are unaware of it.

According to current estimates, 34 percent of new infections occur in persons aged 30 to 39.