Free HIV testing offered on World AIDS day

Several organizations throughout the state are offering free HIV testing Monday to mark World AIDS day.

Minnesota health officials are urging people at high-risk for the disease to take advantage of those opportunities and get tested earlier.

Minnesota Department of Health spokesman Roy Nelson says one out of three people in the state diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in the past year got tested very late in their illness.

"What that actually means is that they've been infected five to 10 years prior to them coming in and being tested, missing years of beneficial treatments, as well as unknowingly infecting others," he said.

The number of new HIV/AIDS cases in the state has not declined over the past decade. Minnesota averages about 300 new cases each year.