There are nearly 3,200 people in county who are HIV-positive and unaware of their status, according to the latest estimates from the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA).
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people between the ages of 13 and 24 represent more than a quarter of the new HIV infections each year and 60 percent of them are unaware they are infected.
Saturday, Dec. 1 is World AIDS Day and now, more than ever, those sobering statistics are a startling reminder that it’s important to know and disclose your HIV status.
Two events are being held in recognition of Worlds AIDS Day:
· A prayer vigil and rally from 11:00 a.m. to 1 p.m. starting at Our Place/San Ysidro Health Center, 286 Euclid Avenue, San Diego. The group will walk to the “Four Corners of Life” at Euclid and Imperial Avenue. Free confidential HIV testing will be available through HHSA and the San Ysidro Health Center. The event is sponsored by the San Diego Faith-Based Working Group.
· The annual Truax Award will be presented at the San Diego LGBT Center in a ceremony beginning at 3:30 p.m. At 5 p.m. a candlelight walk will proceed from the center to the Village Hillcrest Retail Center for the annual Mama’s Kitchen Tree of Life lighting ceremony in observance of World AIDS Day. The event is put on by the San Diego County HHSA Public Health Services HIV Prevention Unit.
The Truax Award was created to honor the memory of Dr. Brad Truax, who died in 1988 after being diagnosed with AIDS. Truax was one of the first physicians in San Diego to treat people with AIDS, advocated for laws to protect people with HIV/AIDS from discrimination and helped establish and later chaired the Mayor’s Task Force on AIDS in 1983.
San Diego County offers confidential HIV testing at the County Health Services Complex at 3851 Rosecrans St., San Diego and at three regional public health centers around the county. Visit http://bit.ly/bvynGw for a list of locations. You can also find HIV testing locations through the CDC at www.hivtest.org.
