Today is World AIDS Day (WAD), and it’s estimated that more than 20,000 people in Ohio are infected with HIV—about 2000 of those cases are here in the Miami Valley.
In recent years treatment has become more accessible, but successful treatment depends on early detection. Bill Hardy with AIDS Resource Center Ohio says early detection can mean viral suppression.
“Which means that the virus is under control in their body," said Hardy. "Their immune system is intact. They are healthy—length of life expectancy is near normal and equally as important, it’s virtually impossible for them to transmit the virus.”
Drugs like Truvada, which has been on the market for about two years now, do help stop the spread of HIV/AIDS. Robert Harrison with Public Health Dayton and Montgomery County says the undiagnosed cases of the disease keep the numbers up.
“People are not testing," he says. "They’re not aware of their status. If anything, we will have an increase in the numbers of people who are infected with HIV.”
There are around a thousand new cases of HIV infection each year in Ohio. And about 1 in 6 cases are still undiagnosed.
Local testing centers from Public Health Dayton and Montgomery County.
