In the British royal family's first-ever Facebook Live broadcast, a "nervous" Prince Harry got tested for HIV in an effort to combat the stigma around the virus — and to encourage others to get tested.
“Even being the person I am and knowing the type of people I’m around, I’m still nervous,” he said before the test.
Once the procedure was underway, however, he seemed to relax a little. The rapid HIV test, which can produce results in less than a minute, involves pricking a finger and taking a small sample of blood to screen for antibodies that the body produces to fight the virus.
Though HIV and AIDS are no longer as fatal as they used to be, they are still a threat. According to the Centers for Disease Control, nearly 1.2 million Americans are living with HIV and one in eight of them doesn't know it. Young people ages 14 to 24 are also affected — people aged 13 to 24 accounted for one in five HIV diagnoses in 2014.
Not knowing whether or not you have HIV also means being unaware that you can spread it — and that's why it's important to get tested.
During the Facebook Live broadcast, Prince Harry found out that he'd tested negative. The royal plans to continue to speak out about HIV/AIDS awareness at the 2016 International Aids Conference in Durban.
Prince Harry believes his generation needs to take leadership in the fight against HIV, or risk losing the gains of those who've come before
— Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) July 14, 2016
"Whether you're a man, woman, gay, straight, black, white, even ginger; why wouldn't you come in and get a test?" he said.
You heard the man: For your own sexual health and the health of others, it's better to be safe than sorry.