University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital - HIV Testing in the Emergency Department

What is it?

Since August 2011, patients treated in University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Hospital's emergency department (ED) have been screened for HIV at no cost. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is providing $1.6 million to UAB through the Alabama Department of Public Health to fund the testing program through 2016.

Who is it for?

All patients, ages 19 to 64, treated in UAB Hospital's ED.

Why do they do it?

More than 220,000 people in the United States are infected with HIV and are unaware that they carry it.

Impact

In the program's first year, 20,000 tests were performed, and 72 cases of HIV infection were diagnosed. All patients with positive results received post-test counseling in the ED and were referred to the 1917 Clinic, UAB's home for HIV/AIDS care and treatment.

Contact: Dale Turnbough
Associate Vice President, Public Relations and Marketing
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Telephone: 205-934-9430
E-mail: dalet@uab.edu