Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Bob Casey, D-Pa., John Fetterman, D-Pa., and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., today called on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to update HIV testing guidelines.
The senators’ letter to CDC Director Mandy Cohen also requests the agency remove the upper age limit of HIV testing recommendations to protect the health of older Americans. Currently, the CDC guidelines recommend routine HIV testing for people between the ages of 13 and 64 years old.
“HIV continues to be a significant public health issue in the United States and across the world, affecting people of all ages, races, and backgrounds. While significant progress has been made in HIV prevention and treatment over the years, there are still many challenges that we must address to effectively combat this disease,” wrote the senators.
“By maintaining an upper age limit for HIV testing recommendations, an entire community is being overlooked and may be at increased vulnerability for HIV due to various factors, including sexual behaviors, substance use, lack of awareness, and barriers to accessing healthcare. This is not only an issue for older adults in our country.”
“It is crucial that we ensure older adults have access to timely HIV testing, diagnosis, and treatment to improve health outcomes and prevent further spread of this disease. People’s lives depend on it,” the senators concluded.
Wyden has long been a champion for healthcare and the elderly. The letter to the CDC follows his successful push for Medicare to negotiate drug prices and cap the price of insulin with the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act.
Full text of the letter is here.
A web version of this release is here.
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