VIRGINIA BEACH — The city’s Human Services Department along with Eastern Virginia Medical School and the Virginia HIV/AIDS Resource and Consultant Center will offer free HIV testing on June 27, National HIV Testing Day.
The confidential testing will be at the Human Services Department, 3432 Virginia Beach Blvd., from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 in 7 people in the United States do not know they are HIV positive.
HIV testing is a critical part of stopping the spread of the virus and the CDC says testing should be a part of routine health care.
A panel of doctors and scientists recently recommended that all Americans between age 15 and 65 get tested for HIV, regardless of their risk of infection.
HIV testing would help increase detection and decrease the stigma associated with HIV and being tested, according to the panel.
HIV testing during pregnancy also is important because antiviral therapy can improve the mother’s health and greatly lower the chance that an HIV-infected pregnant woman will pass HIV to her infant before, during or after birth.
Testing for HIV requires a finger prick and takes about 15 minutes.
For information, call 757-385-0803.
