The New York City Mayoral Commission on AIDS is expected to propose that physicians offer routine, voluntary HIV testing to all patients being treated at city hospitals and clinics, the New York Post reports. Patients at city hospitals and clinics currently must ask to be tested for HIV, according to the Post. New York City Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden said, "If everyone who is HIV-positive knew that they were infected, it would drastically reduce the spread of the disease." Although New York City represents only 3% of the U.S. population, the city has 16% of the country's HIV cases. Approximately 88,463 HIV-positive people live in New York City, and 1,033 people in the city were diagnosed with AIDS in 2003 after undergoing HIV testing, according to the Post. "That tells you that on average, for 10 years, they were living with HIV and they didn't know it," Frieden said, adding, "They didn't take steps to protect themselves and their partners" (Edozien, New York Post, 11/15).