The Anne Arundel County Department of Health will provide free testing for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, on National HIV Testing Day, Friday, June 27, 2014. Free HIV testing and counseling services will be available from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. at My Brother’s Keeper Barbershop, 135 West Street, in Annapolis, and Afrolistics Barbershop and Salon, 13F Aquahart Road, in Glen Burnie. Free food and giveaways will be available. The oral HIV testing is without needles. Results will be provided within 20 minutes. For more information, call 410-222-4498 and follow the Department’s HIV/STD Prevention and Care Program on Twitter at @HIVxpressions.
The Department of Health encourages HIV testing for anyone who has ever shared needles, syringes or drug paraphernalia; had a sexually transmitted infection (STI) or sex with someone who had an STI; or had unprotected sex. All pregnant women should have HIV testing as part of their regular medical care.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that more than one million people in the U.S. are living with HIV. One in five people living with HIV do not know they are infected. During 2011, Anne Arundel County ranked fifth among Maryland jurisdictions for the percentage of newly diagnosed HIV cases. Medical treatments are available to help people living with HIV; but to receive treatment, individuals must first know if they have the virus.
For information about year-round free HIV testing and HIV/AIDS services at the Annapolis, Glen Burnie and Parole Health Centers, visit the Department’s website, www.aahealth.org/hiv/aids, or call 410-222-7108.
