Today is National HIV Testing Day; Infection Rates among Women on the Rise

Recent studies show that the rate of infection among women -- particularly Latina and African-American women -- is rising at an alarming rate. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there was a 17 percent increase of HIV/AIDS among women from 2001 to 2005. Additionally, HIV/AIDS is now a leading cause of death among African-American women ages 24 to 34, Black AIDS Institute , an advocacy group, reports.

According to the Guttmacher Institute , 35 states currently mandate HIV/AIDS education within public schools. Organizations like NAPWA and the Black AIDS Institute, which launched a campaign this week with black entertainers encouraging over 1 million black Americans to get an HIV test, are committed to supplementing public school education with information online and advertising campaigns.