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Get
Tested!
National HIV
Testing Day activities being held countywide throughout week; free
testing available in Compton
By
Gene C. Johnson Jr.
Bulletin Staff Writer
This
Friday, June 27 marks the 14th Annual National HIV Testing Day. Initiated
in 1995 by the National Association of People with AIDS and supported
by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National HIV Testing
Day is held each year on June 27.
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, an estimated
250,000 people in the United States have HIV and are not aware of it.
National HIV Testing Day, department officials said, is an opportunity
for people nationwide to learn their HIV status and to gain knowledge
to take control of their health and their lives.
Moreover, according to the CDC, today there are an estimated 1.039
million to 1.185 million HIV-positive individuals living in the United
States – the largest number ever.
Across the country, thousands of HIV testing sites, state and local
health departments, and community-based HIV/AIDS service providers
will participate in the holiday by holding health fairs, providing
community and media outreach, hosting special testing-related events
or operating extended hours.
National HIV/AIDS Testing Day coincides with the Los Angeles County
HIV Counseling and Testing Week, which began June 23 and concludes
June 28.
In Compton, the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center, located at 2100
N. Long Beach Blvd., will be one several sites throughout Los Angeles
County that will be offering free, anonymous and confidential HIV testing
during the week, said Dienna D’Olimpio, a spokesperson for the
Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.
According to D’Olimpio, nearly 2,000 Los Angeles County residents
are expected to be tested, adding that there are more people living
with HIV/AIDS then ever before.
As of December 2007, in Los Angeles County, 53,198 AIDS cases had been
reported in Los Angeles. Of those, 30,743 have died, reports the County
of Los Angeles, Department of Public Health, Office of AIDS Programs
and Policy.
In Los Angeles County, the HIV epidemic is largely a malady among gay
and bisexual men, particularly among African-American and Latino gay
and bisexual men – including those who don’t identify as
gay or bi-sexual, county health officials report.
African-American women and Latinas account for 83 percent of new AIDS
cases and new HIV infections among women in Los Angeles County.
And although African Americans account for 9.8 percent of the Los Angeles
County population, they also make up 21 percent of the AIDS cases.
Also, the scale of AIDS cases among Latinos in Los Angeles County is
higher than in other parts of the nation, with 44 percent of new AIDS
cases in 2004 being Latino.
Moreover, there has been a steady rise in the number of infections
among Latinos in Los Angeles County. In 1996, 32 percent of persons
living with AIDS were Latino compared to 45 percent white. Today, that
figure stands at 40 percent for Latinos compared to 36 percent for
whites.
Lastly, AIDS is among the top three causes of death for African-American
men ages 25-44 and African-American women 35-44. From the beginning
of the epidemic through December 2005, an estimated 211,559 African
Americans have died from AIDS nationwide.
According to federal health officials, 1985 marked the 20th anniversary
of the development of the HIV antibody test.
“I was infected in 1980 and diagnosed with AIDS in 1990,” said
Phill Wilson, executive director of the Los Angeles-based Black AIDS
Institute, in a news statement “I am alive today, 25 years later,
because I know my status and intervened with life-saving drugs.
“I personify what can happen when people with AIDS have the love
and support of family and friends and access to appropriate medical
care,” Wilson
said. “But you can’t get treated if you don’t get
tested.”
For more information or to be referred to testing locations in Los
Angeles County, call (800) 367-AIDS or visit www.hivla.org.
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