WHITMAN-WALKER HEALTH TEAMS UP WITH GREATER THAN AIDS TO PROVIDE FREE HIV TESTING

June 18, 2012 – Beginning on National HIV Testing Day on June 27 and continuing through June 29, 2012, Whitman-Walker Health will provide FREE rapid HIV testing at one Walgreens store in Washington, DC, from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. daily.   The rapid HIV test takes approximately 20 to 40 minutes to administer and process. Test results will be delivered by the local AIDS service organization providing the testing on site.

HIV testing is being provided by health departments and local AIDS service organizations at select Walgreens stores in 20 markets across the nation as part of an ongoing collaboration between Walgreens, the nation’s largest drugstore chain, and Greater Than AIDS, a coalition of public and private sector partners united in response to the domestic epidemic.  The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Act Against AIDS initiative and the National Association of People Living with HIV/AIDS, the official sponsor of National HIV Testing Day, also are supporting the effort. 

Whitman-Walker Health will provide free HIV testing at the following Walgreens store in Washington, DC:

·         Walgreens 4225 Connecticut Ave, NW

Free, walk in HIV testing will also be available at both Whitman-Walker Health facilities:

Elizabeth Taylor Medical Center, 1701 14^th St., NW, 9:00 am-6:00 pm, June 27

Max Robinson Center, 2301 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave, SE, 9:00 am-4:30 pm, June 27

Of the more than 1.2 million people living with HIV in the U.S. today, an estimated one in five, or nearly a quarter of a million people, do not know it.  One-third of those who are positive are diagnosed so late in the course of their infection they develop AIDS within one year.  Early diagnosis and treatment helps save lives and is known to reduce the spread of HIV.  The CDC encourages everyone to know their status.  

“One in 20 adults in DC has HIV,” said Whitman-Walker Health Executive Director Don Blanchon. “Nine out of every 10 cases of HIV/AIDS in DC is among African-Americans. One in seven gay or bisexual men in DC has HIV and that number drops to one in every three Black gay or bisexual men in DC. With numbers like these, the importance of getting everyone in the District of Columbia tested is evident. This partnership with Walgreens and Greater Than AIDS will allow us to inform new audiences of the importance of getting tested, knowing your HIV status, and taking care of your health.