1. National HIV Testing Day 2010 National Public Health Information Coalition
Karen Resha, MA
Lead Health Communication Specialist
National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention (NCHHSTP)
Rohit Verma, MS
Health Communication Specialist, NCHHSTP

2. U.S. HIV/AIDS Epidemic Nearly 30 yrs into the epidemic:
>56,000 new HIV infections annually
14,000 AIDS deaths each year
>1M living with the virus
African American men and women and men who have sex with men of all races are disproportionately affected

3. HIV Testing is Critical
More than 200,000 Americans are living with HIV but don’t know it (1 in 5 of those infected)
Those unaware of infection account for the majority (54-70%) of new, sexually transmitted HIV infections in the United States (JAIDS, 2006)
When a person knows if he or she is HIV-infected, most take steps to protect their partners
Critical to identify persons who are HIV+ as early as possible to link him or her to care and protect their health and that of others

4. HIV testing is critical to reducing new infections

5. What Can We Do to Help?
Disseminate the key message for HIV Testing Day: Take the Test. Take Control!
Plan events in community centers, use mobile vans to reach persons where they live, worship, work, and play
Educate people about rapid HIV tests that can be done anywhere and provide results in as little as 20 minutes
Follow and share CDC’s recommendation that all Americans be tested for HIV as part of routine medical care
Go to to find a testing site near you

6. NHTD Activities
CDC and AIDS.gov co-facilitated a Federal NHTD Planning Group
NHTD Webinar on The Current and Future State of HIV Testing in the United States
HIV Prevention and Services Provider Locator
CDC Features, Blog, Dear Colleague Letters
Twitter Town Hall and Twitvid
Website updates at hivtest.org
MMWRs
CDC-Info

7. NHTD Activities, cont Everyday Health Widget CDC MySpace
NHTD Buttons/badges
Act Against AIDS
Greater than AIDS
Get Yourself Tested
PSAs on CDC Radio
Media activities

8. Encourage everyone you care about to get tested – protect yourself AND your loved ones – talk, FaceBook, and Tweet

9. National HIV Testing Day Twitter Town Hall

10. About Twitter What is Twitter?
Twitter is a social micro-blogging service that allows members to have online conversations through 140 character messages
A recent user satisfaction survey evaluation of Twitter usage at CDC reported that 78% of Twitter users were very likely or likely to change their health behaviors based upon their experience with CDC tweets

11. The Basics of Using Twitter
Anatomy of a Tweet
Completed Tweet
A user can send out a 140 character message that will be seen by his / her followers. These followers can also retweet (RT), or forward, the original messages to their own followers. Twitter is a network.

12.
CDC currently manages several Twitter accounts. The most influential accounts include:
CDC Emergency (cdcemergency) – 1.2 million followers
CDC.gov (cdcgov) – a recently created Twitter account that attracted 1500 followers after only 2 days
CDC eHealth (cdc_ehealth) – 42, 217 followers
CDC Flu (cdcflu) – 37, 423 followers
*Source: CDC on Twitter Report (2009)

13. Promotion Twitter Widget on HIVTest.org and NPIN
NPIN Announcements
Partner Announcements
Syndicated News Articles
AIDS.gov Blog Post

14. Preliminary Analysis and Results
Twitter Activity during the Town Hall
Approximately 1,005 tweets from 145 separate accounts on the #nhtd hashtag
Most Influential Followers – those with the most followers on their networks:
37,799 followers
25,332 followers
5,990 followers
5,106 followers
3,764 followers
2,196 followers
1,833 followers
1,386 followers
1,267 followers
Total Reach Among Influential Followers – at least 84, 673 followers

15. Preliminary Analysis and Results
Connecting Partners: Relationship-Building
RedPumpProj Much respect for this awesome Twitter Townhall. Got to connect w/ some GREAT ppl/orgs doing work in HIV/AIDS. #NHTD
Do you have an API poster? Let us know if you want to get together to produce one! #NHTD
Types of Conversation
Initial results showed participants interacting in meaningful dialogue with our guest tweeters and among each other
NHTD Plans and Promotions
stacysmallwood last year we did a "text-a-friend-to-test" day at church. set up laptops, food, invited ppl to text/facebook/tweet their friends #NHTD
Thank you / Recaps
keligoff Hate that I missed today's CDC twitter on National HIV Testing Day which is later this month #NHTD
Facts and Figures
RocVictAlliance #NHTD In 2007, heterosexual contact accounted for 83% of diagnoses among women. Help end AIDS. Click:

16. NHTD Partners National Association of People with AIDS – Lead for NHTD
CDC and its National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention
The Department of Health and Human Services AIDS.gov
CDC’s National Prevention Information Network
Other Federal Agencies through collaboration

17. Please join us in support of National HIV Testing Day
Thank you!

18. Resources/Links HIVtest.org AIDS.gov NAPWA
NCHHSTP’s CONNECTIONS Newsletter Special NHTD Edition
CDCINFO CDC-INFO ( ) TTY: (888) , 24 Hours/Every Day