NEW YORK, June 27 (UPI) -- A three-year initiative in New York City to increase HIV testing surpassed all targets, city health officials said Monday.
The Bronx Knows Initiative, a three-year initiative to increase testing for human immunodeficiency virus in the borough, surpassed all targets -- initially it set out to test the estimated 250,000 Bronx residents, but ended up testing 600,000 people for the first time.
"The Bronx Knows initiative has been a great success in helping Bronx residents learn their HIV status and connecting those who tested positive gain early access to care," Dr. Thomas Farley, New York City health commissioner, said in a statement.
"It is one of many interventions throughout New York City to expand HIV testing -- a critical step towards our ultimate goal of integrating HIV screening into routine medical care."
As a result of the program, 607,570 people were tested for HIV. More than 4,800 confirmed HIV diagnoses were made and of those, at least 1,700 were reported to be newly diagnosed and more than three-quarters were linked to care, Farley said.
