Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day | Find Free Testing Sites in DMV

Today is Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day and we could show you a million pics of what this illness could to your body just as a scare tactic as most do; but still many do not know why its important that Blacks promote awareness and testing in their communities. Besides the fact that HIV/AIDS is thought to be rampant amongst the gay community only (which is a very skewed perception), it's also a virus that can lie dormant in the body for up to 10 years. Leaving those who are unaware and refuse to get tested susceptible to spreading the disease and missing out on treatment to help them live longer lives. Still don't think its important to your community? Well we've got a few more hard hitting stats below to satisfy your curiosity and make you reconsider not caring about your status:

Via Kaiser Family Foundation: 

• The number of new HIV infections per year among Blacks is down from its peak in the late 1980s, but has exceeded the number of infections among whites since that time. 

• In 2010, Black teens and young adults, ages 13-24, represented more than half (57%) of new HIV infections in that age group.

• Blacks accounted for about half (48%) of deaths among people with an HIV diagnosis in 2010.

• Black women account for the largest share of new HIV infections among women, and the incidence rate among Black women is 20 times the rate among white women and over 4 times the rate among Latinas. 

• Black women are most likely to have been infected through heterosexual transmission, the most common transmission route for women overall. White women are more likely to have been infected through injection drug use than Black women.

Never been tested before? Whitman-Walker Heath breaks down how its done:


So are you ready? Need a place to go? WWH will give free testing today at the times and locations below:
•9:00 am-5:00 pm, Elizabeth Taylor Medical Center, 1701 14th St., NW. 
• 9:00 am-4:30pm, Max Robinson Center, 2301 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave., SE. 

Testing will be available through their mobile testing unit at the: 
•Anacostia Metro station from 12:00-3:00 pm 

•Bachelors Mill, 1104 8th St., SE, 10:00 pm to 12:30 am.

And if you can't make it today, check out the Whitman-Walker Health website for their regular testing time.

#GetHip #GetTested #KnowYourStatus