Last week saw the observance of National HIV Testing Day on June 27, encouraging Americans to get tested and find out their status. A number of organizations nation-wide provided free tests. President Obama even released a public statement, saying that getting tested “opens the door to treatment, reduces the spread of the virus, and helps people lead longer, healthier lives.” Information about the disease constantly increases while test result waiting time decreases.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) report that one in five Americans are HIV-positive and don’t realize they have the virus. That number increases to half when looking at people under the age of 24. The CDC also state that the virus is still impacting populations very differently: black Americans are eight times more likely to have the disease, Americans living below the poverty line are six-times, and men who have sex with men (MSM) account for nearly two-thirds of all new cases.

These statistics at home are worrisome because of so many public awareness campaigns. The United Nations declared late last year that because of a global response and solidarity in combating the epidemic the end to the disease and its toll on human life was feasible, but the prevalence of new cases still remains high in the U.S. For a decade new cases of HIV have remained around 50,000, a great reduction from the 130,000 levels of the late-1980s, but as Dr. Kevin Fenton, the chief of AIDS prevention for the CDC, states it is still an “unacceptably high level,” where if not changed, “we’re likely to face an era of rising infection rates.”

This day is important not just for those don’t know their status, but also for those that do, and are still discriminated against.

A week before National HIV Testing Day, the American Medical Association (AMA) voted to oppose the Food and Drug Administration’s long-time ban of MSM from donating blood. The AMA vote was based on the fact that the policy is decades old and needs revision, is not based on sound science, and is discriminatory of an entire group rather than individual’s risk rates.

The AMA’s position reflects the growing trend of questioning the blood ban, though with statistics like those above, the FDA has plenty of excuses to delay lifting the ban, citing high population risks and not enough reliable technology.

Internationally, the current trend is to allow deferral periods for MSM before they can donate blood. Countries like Brazil, Sweden, the U.K., Australia, and Japan allow MSM to donate blood after not having sex with another man for at least one year. South Africa has the shortest time frame of six months, while Canada and New Zealand have a deferral period of five years. Chile, Italy, Mexico, Poland, Spain, and Uruguay, however, do not currently have bans on MSM blood donations and freely accept them.

The reason for these differences is because outside of the United States, HIV isn’t a gay men’s disease. The United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) reports that in the main reason for risky sexual behavior is the lack of reliable education about HIV infection as well as access to condoms, and great social stigma. They also report that while new infection rates in Sub-Saharan Africa, the region with the largest amount of people with the disease, has stabilized, rates in South-East Asia continue to rise.

So even if you didn’t observe national testing day, you can—and should—get tested at a clinic. In fact, under The Health Care for America plan (ObamaCare) you should be able to get free HIV testing with your regular checkup. And if you did get tested recently, be sure it isn’t the only time you are tested, and always be sure of your status.