October 3, 2006 - The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending that adolescents and adults be routinely tested for HIV infection in hospitals, clinics, and doctors' offices. Under the proposed new policy, patients would no longer have to sign a consent form and receive pre-test counseling, and instead will be told that they are being tested and that they have the opportunity to "opt out."

More than 250,000 people in the United States are infected with HIV and do not know it. About 40 percent of infected Americans are diagnosed when the disease is at an advanced stage. The CDC's proposal urges testing of everyone ages 13 to 64 when they have current routine blood testing to measure blood sugar, kidney function, and other health indicators.

There are several National Academies reports on AIDS and HIV. Public Financing and Delivery of HIV/AIDS Care: Securing the Legacy of Ryan White examines the current standard of care for HIV patients and recommends an expanded federal treatment for the treatment of individuals with HIV, administered at the state level. Scaling Up Treatment for the Global AIDS Pandemic: Challenges and Opportunities outlines steps necessary to implement a rapid "scale-up" of antiretroviral therapy initiatives to meet larger needs of resource-poor countries heavily impacted by HIV/AIDS.

• Public Financing and Delivery of HIV/AIDS Care: Securing the Legacy of Ryan White (2005)
• Scaling Up Treatment for the Global AIDS Pandemic: Challenges and Opportunities (2004)
• Searchable HIV/AIDS Collection

• CDC Information Page