Magic Johnson Partners With OraSure on HIV Awareness Campaign

(The Root) -- "No, I'm not on any magical drugs. I've been saying that for 21 years," Magic Johnson told a small crowd of journalists and HIV- and AIDS-prevention workers over lunch at New York City's Gramercy Park Hotel on Wednesday.

The NBA champion and star of the Los Angeles Lakers, after receiving the life-changing news that he was HIV-positive, announced his status to a gaggle of television cameras in 1991. Since then he has worked to change the way the world perceives people who carry the virus.

OraSure CEO Douglas Michels on the company’s partnership with Magic Johnson and its new rapid HIV test that is now available for in-home use. 

OraSure Technologies Inc. (OSUR) Stock: http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=OSUR

Ask for the Kit insert before your next HIV and AIDS test.

READ: In Home HIV Tests Now Available to Mislead http://bit.ly/Q8olNQ

But initially, Johnson had to seek someone to guide him through the process of dealing with his disease, both emotionally and physically. Now he is an international ambassador for HIV and AIDS prevention, the self-proclaimed "face of this disease," and he's endorsing the at-home HIV test called OraQuick.

Produced by the pharmaceutical company OraSure, the test is the first FDA-approved rapid HIV test, which produces results in 20 minutes. It retails at pharmacies like CVS or Duane Reade, as well as online for about $39. OraQuick, which has been used by health care providers for just over a decade, uses a mouth swab to detect antibodies to HIV-1 and HIV-2 in oral fluid. And while this seems to be great news for people who would rather learn their status in their own bathroom, according to the Food and Drug Administration, the test does come with a caveat.

20 pct of Latinos with HIV don't know it - UPI -Health News

Create FEAR:

ATLANTA, Oct. 15 (UPI) -- Approximately one in 50 Latinos in the United States can expect to be diagnosed with HIV in his or her lifetime, federal health officials said.
Among Latino men, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated 81 percent of infections occur among gay and bisexual men, with the largest number of new infections among gay and bisexual men age 30 and under compared to other age groups.
HIV infection rates among Latino men are almost three times higher than among white men, while HIV infection rates among Latinas are four times higher than among white women.
CDC recommends all adolescents and adults get tested for HIV, regardless of whether they think they are at risk.
"Getting an HIV test is one of the simplest and most effective things we all can do to take control of our health," Dr. Kevin A. Fenton, director of the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in a statement. "Simply put, knowing your status -- and getting treated if you are infected -- can save your life. Today in the United States, about one in five Latinos infected with HIV doesn't know it. That's because more than half of Latinos have never been tested."


Read more: http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2011/10/15/20-pct-of-Latinos-with-HIV-dont-know-it/UPI-28401318653187/#ixzz1arkAW4zR