CDC recommends routine, voluntary HIV screening

CDC has published new recommendations for healthcare providers that are designed to make voluntary HIV screening a routine part of medical care for all patients aged 13 to 64. The recommendations aim to simplify the HIV testing process in healthcare settings and increase early HIV diagnosis among the estimated more than 250,000 HIV-positive Americans who are unaware of their infection. The recommendations also include new measures to improve diagnosis among pregnant women and further reduce mother-to-child HIV transmission. The revised recommendations were published in Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report on Sept. 21. In a separate, but related development, Sens. Tom Coburn, M.D. (R, Okla.) and Diane Watson (D, Calif.) and the AIDS Healthcare Foundation held a press conference recently to announce support of CDC's new HIV testing guidelines.

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