Release Date:
November 30, 2010
Contact: Lorraine Pulido, Ph.D./669-2413Lorraine.Pulido@sanantonio.gov
World AIDS Day 2010 to Focus on Importance HIV Testing
World AIDS Day is a day of remembrance for all of those who have lost their lives to AIDS. While health outcomes for people infected with HIV/AIDS have improved, the effects of this disease remain devastating globally. An estimated 56,000 new HIV/AIDS infections occur in the U.S. every year, one person every 9½ minutes. More than 275,000 Americans are living with HIV and do not know it, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These staggering statistics underscore the need to expand routine HIV testing to all persons aged 13-64 regardless of individual risk factors. In observance of World AIDS Day, Metro Health will conduct free HIV and Syphilis testing on Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2010 at the Central Library Auditorium, 600 Soledad. Metro Health activities are scheduled from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. There will be presentations on the epidemiology of HIV/AIDS in Bexar County and an educational interactive event.
Metro Health and area community-based organizations will provide free rapid HIV tests to anyone requesting them on World AIDS Day at the library and the STD/HIV clinic at 332 W. Commerce. The test provides results in 20 minutes and does not require a needle stick. Metro Health routinely uses this method when testing individual contacts during field investigations. This test also is used daily by community-based organizations, which like Metro Health, will provide HIV testing during World AIDS Day.
Approximately 4,473 people were knowingly living with HIV or AIDS in Bexar County as of December 31, 2009. The number of new cases of people diagnosed with HIV has been relatively stable, in 2007 there were 286 cases, in 2008, 287 cases and in 2009, 312 cases. Hundreds of others probably have the disease but are unaware of their status because they have not been tested. People who are HIV positive but do not realize it, cannot benefit from the treatments available or protect their partners from becoming infected. Anyone testing positive while receiving services at Metro Health will be given counseling and referral services to area providers. For more information on HIV/STD services, call 207-8830 or visit www.sanantonio.gov/health.
