April 18 is National Transgender HIV Testing Day

April 11, 2024

Dear Colleague:

April 18 is National Transgender HIV Testing Day (NTHTD), when we recognize the ongoing impact of HIV on transgender communities and highlight the importance of regular HIV testing and access to HIV prevention and care services. HIV testing is the entry point to HIV prevention and treatment services, yet a variety of structural barriers can make it difficult for transgender and nonbinary people to access testing.

One method to improve access is self-testing. HIV self-tests are a fast, convenient, and private way to test for HIV, and provide people with the information they need to stay healthy. Self-testing can also address some structural and logistical barriers to HIV testing—issues like transportation challenges, concerns about confidentiality, and fears of discrimination. Together TakeMeHome (TTMH) is a program that mails free HIV self-tests anywhere in the United States, including Puerto Rico. Launched in March 2023, TTMH outreach has focused on populations disproportionately affected by HIV, including transgender women of all races and ethnicities. As we mark the one-year anniversary since program launch, we have been delighted to see the strong engagement and use of TTMH by the campaign’s priority audiences, including people who identify as transgender or gender diverse, defined as anyone who did not identify as a cisgender man or cisgender woman. To date, the program has distributed over 450,000 tests, with 9% ordered by gender diverse audiences through the TTMH online portal; 27% of those orders were people who reported they had never tested for HIV before.

This year for NTHTD, we are asking our colleagues to extend the reach of TTMH by helping to promote the program. You can use posts from CDC’s digital toolkit that direct people to the TTMH portal for ordering tests. You can also help us raise awareness about the range of HIV testing options. Please share social media content using the #NTHTD, #TransHIV, and #StopHIVTogether hashtags. If your organization works with people who identify as transgender or gender diverse and you would like additional Together TakeMeHome resources, please reach out to us at StopHIVTogether@cdc.gov for customized materials.

Help us promote NTHTD by downloading and sharing resources from CDC’s Let’s Stop HIV Together campaign, the national campaign of both the Ending the HIV Epidemic in the U.S. initiative and the National HIV/AIDS Strategy. Let’s Stop HIV Together is an evidence-based campaign created in English and Spanish that aims to empower communities, partners, and health care providers to reduce HIV stigma and promote HIV testing, prevention, and treatment. If you’re a health care provider, you can learn more about providing culturally competent patient-centered care for transgender patients by downloading our HIV prevention and care materials. Together, we can end stigma and transphobia, and overcome barriers to HIV testing, prevention, and care for transgender and nonbinary people.

Sincerely,

/Robyn Fanfair/
Robyn Neblett Fanfair, MD, MPH
Captain, USPHS
Director
Division of HIV Prevention
National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
www.cdc.gov/hiv

/Jonathan Mermin/
Jonathan Mermin, MD, MPH
Rear Admiral, USPHS (retired)
Director
National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Stay connected: @DrMerminCDC & Connections