If everyone got tested for HIV regularly, and everyone who has the virus got treatment, Dr. Trevor Hawkins believes the AIDS epidemic would be under control.

"Testing is prevention," he says. "Treatment is prevention."

Hawkins' opinion isn't to be taken lightly — he's the lead physician at Southwest CARE Center and has been tending to people infected with the human immunodeficiency virus and to those suffering from the later stages of AIDS for the better part of three decades.

The clinic's research on drug therapy that prolongs and increases the quality of life for those patients has reached audiences across the globe, and even though Hawkins is humble about his work, people who live in New York and Los Angeles still fly to Santa Fe seeking his care.

"As far as this epidemic goes," Hawkins says, "the key is frank and open sex education, plus reminders in the media on a regular basis. And I think that an HIV test should be part of every medical visit, at least once a year."

Andrew Gans, director of the state's HIV Prevention Office, said testing for the virus has to be a top priority.

"Across the country, the federal government estimates that somewhere between 20 and 25 percent of the people who have HIV don't know about it," he said.

While those people are likely to have untreated health problems, they also are extremely likely to transmit the virus to others. Research shows that just knowing that he or she carries the virus changes a person's risky behavior, such as engaging in unprotected sex.

Physicians are commonly prescribing a combination of several drugs classified as antiretroviral medications to those who test positive for HIV — a treatment course that keeps the virus from replicating and can reduce its presence beyond easily detectable levels.

"Back in the '80s you would say, 'Get tested so that you would know,' but there was nothing that we could do," Gans said. "Then in the '90s, it was, 'Get tested so you would know, but the outcome is not going to be good.' Now, it is, 'Get tested so that you know and you can take some very effective medications.' That is huge. It has really overcome the fear of testing for a lot of people because it is a different message."

People at high risk of contracting the virus include gay men and injection-drug users and their partners, but the virus doesn't discriminate. Recent statistics by the HIV Prevention Office show more than a third of newly diagnosed cases in 2009 were in individuals who did not fit into any of those categories.

FREE TESTING FOR HIV

HIV testing isn't just for people who think they've taken risks. Health care professionals say it's something everyone should do once a year.

• Free, confidential 10-minute HIV tests are available at Southwest CARE Center, 649 Harkle Road, Suite E, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Wednesdays and Fridays (closed during the lunch hour), and from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Monday nights, 989-8200; and at the Santa Fe Public Health Office, 605 Letrado Street, 9 a.m. to noon on Wednesdays, or by appointment, 476-2600.

• Your private health care provider can order an HIV test, which is included annually in most major health insurance plans. Coverage will soon be required under new federal rules for health insurance.

• The state Department of Aging and Long-Term Services will do walk-in testing during a health fair for seniors from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 16 at the Toney Anaya Building, 2550 Cerrillos Road.

ON THE WEB

• For more information about prevention and services, see www.nmhivguide.org.