Capital Region Take the Test Week
Wednesday, June 25th, 2008Friday, June 27 is National HIV Testing Day. National HIV Testing Day is an opportunity for people nationwide to learn their HIV status which is essential in taking control of their health and their lives. Locally, free HIV testing will be provided as part of the Capital Region’s “Take the Test” week. It is estimated that 1 in 4 people who already have HIV do not know they have it. HIV counseling and testing enables those that test positive to get early treatment and to protect their partners’ health, and helps people who test negative to get the information they need to stay uninfected.
In an effort to promote HIV testing in upstate New York, the AIDS Council of Northeastern New York has collaborated with other local groups to provide various HIV testing sites throughout the region. They are encouraging citizens to “Take Control. Take the Test.” The Take the Test coalition includes the AIDS Council, New York State Department of Health, Project W.A.V.E., Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood and Whitney M. Young, Jr. Health Services.
In addition to regularly scheduled walk-in testing, numerous testing times and locations have been added throughout Albany, Schenectady, Troy and Hudson. Please call the AIDS Hotline at 1-800-201-AIDS for more information.
HIV is 100% preventable and many do not know the test only takes about 20 minutes to get a result and involves no needles or blood. New York leads the nation in HIV cases and 6 New Yorkers die every day from HIV/AIDS.
National HIV Testing Day (NHTD) was started in 1995 by The National Association of People with AIDS (NAPWA). Every year, on June 27th, local organizations across the nation engage with communities to promote early diagnosis and HIV-testing.