U.S. Panel Advises HIV Tests for Everyone Ages 15 to 64 -- The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has recommended HIV tests for everyone aged 15 to 64. The guidelines also recommend that doctors offer HIV testing to people outside of that age group if they are at high risk for contracting HIV and that they offer HIV testing to all pregnant women.

In their 2005 guidelines, the task force suggested routine HIV screening only for those at increased risk. Since then, however, studies have offered sound evidence that HIV-infected individuals, as well as their intimate partners and the public, are better served by near-universal screening. The CDC's guidelines are mainly in agreement with the task force's current ones, differing only in that CDC recommends testing begin at age 13 instead of 15.

The panel listed its recommendations as Grade A, meaning there is high certainty of substantial benefit. If the panel ultimately adopts those recommendations, Medicare and most private health insurers would be required to pay for the tests.

Youth HIV Rate High, Testing Low -- According to a CDC report, young people ages 13 to 24 accounted for more than a quarter of new HIV infections in the U.S. in 2010, with approximately 12,000 cases, but only about a third of the people in that age group had been tested. The Director of CDC stated that every month 1,000 youth are becoming infected with HIV. A major implication of the new data is the future healthcare burden, with the lifetime cost of care for an individual with HIV at approximately $400,000.

CDC researchers found the rates were higher in southern and northeastern states than in western and mid-western states. Of the estimated 47,500 new HIV infections in 2010, 12,200 (25.7%) were among youths, and 82.8% of those new infections were in males.

Among newly infected youth, 57.4% were African American, 19.6% were Hispanics, and 19.5% were white. The majority of HIV infections were from male-to-male sexual transmission (72.1%), while heterosexual contact accounted for 19.8%, injection drug use 4%, and a combination of male-to-male sex and injection drug use 3.7%. Males who had sexual contact with other males were less likely to report having ever been taught in school about AIDS or HIV infection. In 2011, only 12.9% of the students reported that they had ever been tested for HIV. Read the CDC report here.

More Stepping Forward for Anonymous HIV Testing in Singapore -- The advocacy group Action for AIDS (AfA) in Singapore reports that more individuals are taking anonymous HIV tests. So far, 1,368 people have been tested for HIV at AfA's mobile van in the past 11 months. Of this number, seven tested positive. Another site tested 540 individuals during one month. A total of 5,521 people in Singapore have been diagnosed with HIV.

Dr. Amy Khor, minister of state for health, said that stigma and discrimination create a barrier to early detection and treatment of at-risk individuals. She stated that people who test positive may be shunned by their family, rejected by friends, or lose their jobs. As a result, they are afraid to get tested, to the detriment of their health and the increased possibility of exposing their sexual partners to HIV.

To fight fear and stigma, Tan Tock Seng Hospital became the first public hospital to launch an HIV stigma and discrimination campaign, called the Power to Change is Within You. Banners, posters, and stickers will be displayed around the hospital, the Communicable Disease Centre, and clinics. Also, stories and positive experiences of HIV patients will be highlighted. The aim is to help people with HIV think more positively and to demonstrate to the public that people with HIV can continue to live normal lives.