The Baltimore County Department of Health will hold additional free HIV testing clinics, in recognition of National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day NBHAAD).
February 7, 2014 marks the 14th year for NBHAAD, a national HIV testing and treatment community mobilization initiative targeted at blacks in the United States and the Diaspora. There are four specific focal points: education, testing, involvement and treatment. The focus is to get blacks educated about the basics of HIV/AIDS in their local communities. Testing is at the core of this initiative, as it is hoped that blacks will mark February 7 of every year as their annual or biannual day to get tested for HIV.
“We are definitely working to decrease the disparity of HIV cases in the African American community,” said Dr. Gregory Wm. Branch, director of the Department of Health and Human Services. “But irrespective of race, everyone 13 to 64 should get tested annually.”
For more information about Baltimore County’s National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day or the regularly scheduled HIV testing clinics, call: 410-887-2437 or visit: www.baltimorecountymd.gov/go/gettested.