| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
June 22, 2009
|
Media Contacts:
Krishna Stone, GMHC, 212-367-1016
Mobile HIV Testing Vans to Blitz the Boroughs
in weeklong initiative for National HIV Testing Day
New York, NY — On Wednesday, June 24, a dozen Mobile HIV Testing Units (MTUs) will park on designated streets in each borough and test New Yorkers for HIV. This will be the first day of a weeklong initiative in conjunction with National HIV Testing Day (June 27). Each section designated has some of the highest rates of HIV infection in the city. In downtown Brooklyn, Deputy Brooklyn Borough President, Yvonne Graham will be meeting the MTUs. Duane Reade, the drugstore chain, is a major sponsor of this initiative.
"By bringing HIV testing to the city's shopping areas and neighborhoods, we are reaching the one in four New Yorkers living with HIV who do not know their status,"said Marjorie J. Hill, PhD, Chief Executive Officer at Gay Men's Health Crisis. "We are grateful to work with our respected community partners to launch this innovative initiative which will further address the stigma and fear connected to testing."
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, every 9½ minutes (on average), someone in the United States is infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. More than one million people in the United States are living with HIV. Of those one million people living with HIV, one in four Americans do not know they are infected.
The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has reported that New York City remains the epicenter of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the U.S. More than 100,000 New Yorkers are living with HIV, but thousands don't know they're infected.
The participating AIDS service organizations and city agencies with MTUs include: Gay Men's Health Crisis, Gay Men of African Descent, New York City Department Health and Mental Hygiene, Ryan-Nena Community Health Center, Harlem United, Bronx AIDS Services, Frost'd, Callen-Lorde Community Health Center, AIDS Center Queens County, Asian Pacific-Islander Coalition on HIV/AIDS and Community Health Network of Staten Island. An additional 18 community-based organization without MTUs will help provide staffing for outreach to New Yorkers about HIV testing.
Event Information
Date: Wednesday, June 24
Time: 3:00 pm
Location: Hoyt Street between Fulton and Livingston Streets, Downtown Brooklyn
Deputy Brooklyn Borough President, Yvonne Graham, other elected officials and leadership of AIDS service organizations will be available for photo and interview opportunities.
* * *
© 2009 Gay Men's Health Crisis |
home 
