HIV-testing advice isn’t being followed. Two years after federal health officials urged patients in emergency rooms and doctors’ offices to routinely get HIV tests, the advice generally isn’t being followed, according to a large number of studies presented this week at a Arlington, Va., conference on HIV testing. The Washington Post reports that only about 5 percent of patients who come to hospital emergency rooms with serious illnesses are being routinely tested for the virus that causes AIDS, said Veronica Miller, director of the Forum for Collaborative HIV Research, an independent public-private partnership based at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services. “HIV is a life-threatening disease that is so grossly under-diagnosed and under-treated in this country,” Miller said in a briefing on the two-day Summit on HIV Testing. In 2006, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that everyone between 13 and 64 years old be routinely tested when they come to a medical facility or doctor’s office. The choice, however, would be theirs and they can opt out if they want to. Among the reason for the poor showing, the scientists said, were that many clinics think the test is time-consuming, and some insurers are reluctant to pay for the tests, which cost between $80 to $120. “Reimbursement is a major barrier to routine testing,” said Kevin Fenton, director of HIV prevention at the CDC. When the emergency department at George Washington University Medical Center began offering the saliva test, 0.8 percent of those accepting were infected, far below the District’s estimated 5 percent HIV prevalence rate, the Post reported. At Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia, where trained counselors offered rapid testing to emergency room patients in an interaction that lasted slightly more than five minutes, 83 percent of patients said yes. Half were women, 80 percent were black, and the average age was 36. About one-quarter had never been tested, and 0.7 percent were infected. The research suggests that if routine testing is implemented, it would detect the infection at a much earlier stage in many patients. For more on why testing is important and to talk about the issue, go to Vital Signs.

UNCF and Merck offer science fellowships. The United Negro College Fund – the nation’s largest minority education assistance organization – has announced that it is now accepting applications for the UNCF/Merck Science Initiative, which provides money for African-American students pursuing science research degrees at both the undergraduate and post-graduate level.  Applicants may visit www.uncf.org/merck to access applications for the 2009 selection process until Dec. 15, 2008, at 11:59 p.m. (ET). Thirty-seven people will be selected to receive 15 undergraduate awards, 12 graduate awards, and 10 postdoctoral awards. The UNCF-Merck Science Initiative offers biological and chemical research fellowships to minority students, for training, mentoring, networking and institutional support.  In 13 years, the partnership has provided support to almost 500 students and scholars in the sciences.

TAGS: fellowships, HIV testing, lack, Merck Science Initiative, United Negro College Fund, Vital Signs

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