(U-WIRE) AUSTIN, Texas – Nearly 1 million Americans currently live with HIV, and another 40,000 will contract the virus within a year, according to the Center for Disease Control. Between 180,000 to 280,000 of those infected with HIV are unaware of their condition.

These numbers motivated the center and the National Association of People With AIDS to sponsor the 11th annual National HIV Testing Day today. The association started National HIV Testing Day in 1995 to encourage at-risk individuals to get tested.

“Once people know their status, they feel empowered,” said Miguel Agureo, the coordinator for National HIV Testing Day for the association.

It was this month, 25 years ago, that the first mention of AIDS was reported by the center in the cases of five men in Los Angeles. At the time it was reported, the report gave it no name or cause.

The association was started in 1983 and is the oldest association for people with AIDS in the world. It has attempted to increase awareness, specifically in minority communities, about the dangers of HIV and AIDS.

The Wright House Wellness Center, a local Austin charity established to offer assistance to those living with HIV, AIDS, hepatitis and cancer, is holding an event at the Austin Community College Eastview Campus that will include speakers and confidential HIV testing.

The City of Austin will administer the tests and require that blood be drawn to ensure accuracy. The wait for results has been reduced to 20 minutes.

“This is simply for those who do not know their status to come out into the community and get help,” said Melvin Walker, a peer educator at the Wright House and a speaker at today’s event.

University Health Services offered information last year on the day of awareness, but this year will not do anything extra because of the city’s event. There are also fewer students in the summer, said Leah Arnett, assistant director of University Health Services.

Testing is always available for students for a fee, she said.

HIV was discovered as the cause of AIDS in the early 1980s. The disease was once believed to affect only homosexual men, as the first reported cases involved homosexual men, and intravenous drug users.

Recent years have seen a gradual increase in infection in new demographic groups.

“In the United States, the rates of infection with HIV are increasing for heterosexual women and in older Americans, two groups in which the infection rates were previously relatively low,” said David Hillis, a biology professor at the University, in an e-mail interview.

Of the 40,000 new cases of HIV every year, women account for one-quarter, according to a report by the center. Among those, 67 percent are black, 15 percent are Hispanic and 17 percent are Caucasian. Additionally, the number of heterosexual HIV transmissions has increased substantially over the past 20 years. In 1985, heterosexual contact accounted for 3 percent of HIV transmissions. By 2004 the number had increased to 31 percent.

“The worst case scenario is that people will become complacent and think that the disease is only a disease of particular high-risk groups and thus not protect themselves,” Hillis said. “We are already seeing that, which is why the rate of infection is increasing among groups such as heterosexual women and older Americans.”

Although there is no cure for HIV, there is still hope in preventing the virus from causing AIDS.

“Time to progression to AIDS is highly variable, and with current treatments, the body’s immune system can remain healthy for a long time — perhaps indefinitely,” Hillis said.

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