About Us

Background

In 2006, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued Revised Recommendations for HIV Testing of Adults, Adolescents, and Pregnant Women in Healthcare Settings. These recommendations called for HIV screening for patients’ ages 13 to 64 in all healthcare settings. These recommendations are intended to address the persistently high estimates of undiagnosed or late diagnosed HIV infection.

To explore ways of expanding routine testing, the Texas Department of State Health Services HIV/STD Prevention and Care Branch, along with colleagues from a variety of perspectives, formed a steering committee. The steering committee decided to form the Test Texas HIV Coalition. The purpose of the Coalition is to bring stakeholders together to build the capacity of health care providers to implement routine testing recommendations and to provide increased access to training and technical assistance resources to help providers make the 2006 CDC recommendations a part of their practice.

This website was designed to assist health care providers like you. On this site, you will find information about the evidence base associated with routine HIV testing, training resources including a training calendar, curricula and links to agencies in Texas that can help you and your organization as you begin to make HIV testing a routine part of health care.

We want the coalition to be as vibrant and diverse as Texas and have invited health professionals from a variety of perspectives to join us. Please consider joining in this effort. Use the resources available to you on the site and share them with your colleagues. Support the expansion of routine HIV testing in your organization and in your field of medicine by talking about routine HIV testing and sharing this website.

Need more information? Contact the Test Texas HIV Coalition Project Manager at 512-533-3017.

Steering Committee

In 2008, a variety of medical health care professionals came together to support the expansion of routine HIV testing in Texas. Below are the agencies supporting this initiative:

Task Forces

Emergency Departments

Group objectives include: understanding the issues & the impact of implementing HIV testing in the ED community; listing needs and resources for ED providers; assembling data on implementing HIV testing in the ED community.

Family Planning Task Force

This is a group of family planning providers from across Texas who meet in person, by phone and/or through groupsites.com. to promote routine opt-out HIV testing in family planning clinics.

Mental Health/Substance Abuse

This Task Force is a group of mental health/substance abuse providers from across Texas who meet in person, by phone and/or through groupsites.com to promote routine opt-out HIV testing.

Primary Care Task Force

This Task Force is a group of community health center and private providers from across Texas who will meet in person, by phone and/or through groupsites.com to promote routine opt-out HIV testing in community health centers.

Training/Education

This Task Force is copmprised of members interested in training and education who meet in person, by phone and/or through groupsites.com to plan training and education materials to promote routine opt-out HIV testing.

Tuberculosis Task Force

This group of tuberculosis treatment providers from across Texas meet in person, by phone and/or through groupsites.com to promote routine opt-out HIV testing in TB treatment programs.