Friday, June 27, is National HIV Testing Day 2025 (#HIVTesting Day and #NHTD). It’s a time to encourage people to get tested for HIV and learn their status and, if needed, get connected to care, treatment and prevention.
Learn more about HIV testing events and spread the word by searching the hashtags above on social media (sample posts are embedded throughout this article). For example, Walgreens and KFF’s “Greater Than HIV/STDs” campaign are collaborating with health departments and community groups to offer free testing at 575 Walgreens locations on June 27.
This year’s theme is the same as last year’s: “Level up your self-love: check your status.”
“Getting tested is an act of self-care. It helps you take charge of your health and your future,” states the federal website HIV.gov. “HIV testing is also an important part of protecting your health and the health of others.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that everyone between ages 13 and 64 get an HIV test at least once as part of routine care. People with certain risk factors should get tested at least once a year. Most HIV tests are available for free or at reduced cost.
You can find where to get tested by visiting Locator.HIV.gov.
Cobb & Douglas Public Health to Offer Free HIV Testing Friday in Honor of National HIV Testing Day #cobbcounty
[image or embed]
— Cobb County Courier (@cobbcountycourier.com) June 26, 2025 at 10:46 AM
About 1.2 million people are living with HIV in the United States, and it’s estimated that about 13% of them don’t know they are positive. In 2023, over 39,000 people were diagnosed with HIV across the nation and its six territories, according to the CDC. Over 80% were men, with 66% attributed to male-to-male sexual contact. Latino and African Americans each accounted for more than a third. People ages 25 to 44 accounted for 60% of diagnoses, and 51% of new cases were in the South.
What’s more, nearly 40% of new HIV cases each year are transmitted by people who don’t know they are HIV positive.
This National HIV Testing Day, join NMQF for “Testing is Ministry” — a conversation on faith, stigma & HIV testing in Black communities. Fri, June 27 | 12PM ET Register: bit.ly/4lfhDJP#HIVTestingDay #FaithAndHealth #NMQF
[image or embed]
— NMQF (@nmqf.bsky.social) June 26, 2025 at 9:37 AM
Learning your HIV status can help you make informed and important decisions about your health and that of your partners. People who are HIV positive should start treatment as soon as possible. Many HIV medications are available today, and treatments range from one pill a day to long-acting injectables administered once monthly or every other month. To learn more, see the POZ Basics on Starting HIV Treatment. Similarly, people at risk of contracting the virus have many HIV prevention options today, ranging from condoms to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP).
People with HIV who achieve and maintain viral suppression experience slower disease progression, enjoy better overall health and are less likely to develop opportunistic illnesses. What’s more, people with an undetectable viral load don’t transmit HIV to others through sex. This is known as treatment as prevention, or Undetectable Equals Untransmittable (U=U).
Today is #HIVTestingDay! Join BronxWorks at the Walgreens store at 3480 Jerome Avenue, Bronx, NY tomorrow, June 27, 10am-4pm to get FREE HIV testing and Hepatitis C testing results in 20 mins or less. No appointment needed. GreaterThan.org/Walgreens #NHTD #GreaterThanHIV #GreaterThanSTDs
[image or embed]
— BronxWorks (@bronxworks.bsky.social) June 26, 2025 at 12:00 PM
You can test to learn your status in various ways: Rapid self-tests and mail-in tests can be taken in the privacy of your home, while testing sites can use oral swabs, small blood spots from finger sticks and blood draws to test for HIV. Some tests look for antibodies, antigens or HIV genetic material. Learn additional details in the POZ Basics on HIV Testing.
In related news, federal funding cuts under the Trump administration threaten the future widespread availability of free HIV testing. For example, see this week’s story “Ohio Health Department Pauses HIV Services Due to Federal Funding Delays.”
Click here to learn more about 2025 HIV and AIDS awareness days, and click here for a printable poster.
