• Having an HIV test is the only way to know for sure whether you have HIV or not.

• If you have HIV but it is not diagnosed, it will slowly damage your immune system. If it is diagnosed, your health can be monitored and you can take treatment to help keep you well.

• If you have HIV but don’t know you have it, you could pass it on in without realising it.

• Knowing whether or not you have HIV means you can make informed decisions about your health and your future.

Because of the availability of effective HIV treatment, doctors are keen to find out if people are HIV-positive long before they start to develop HIV-related illnesses. Most doctors now think that starting HIV treatment while the immune system is relatively strong improves the chance that treatment will be able to keep your HIV under control indefinitely.

People with HIV treatment take viral load tests, which monitor the amount of HIV in the blood. In people who are not on treatment, the level of HIV in the blood gradually increases, and as it does, the health of the immune system gradually declines. Taking HIV treatment usually results in the level of HIV in the blood dropping to a very low level.

If you have not had an HIV test, you don’t know whether or not you are infected. If you do have HIV, your doctor cannot monitor you to see how HIV is affecting your health. You may not learn that you are infected until you become ill with an HIV-related illness.

On the other hand, if you were tested earlier you could have benefited from treatment that could keep you healthy for a long time.