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Vans
to Offer Free HIV Testing at DC's Caribbean Carnival June 27th & 28th (1PM to 5pm) & in Washington Highlands (Ward
8) on June 27th (1PM to 5pm)
LA to DC: Successful Three Week, 14 City Free HIV Testing Caravan Visited Hard-hit Southern
US Cities; Over 500 Free Tests Performed Along the Route
Cumulative AIDS Cases in the DISTRICT of COLUMBIA 1.8% of
US total (18,196 AIDS cases through 2007, per CDC)
From
Press Release Issued June 26, 2009
What:
FREE HIV TESTING EVENTS & MEDIA AVAILABILITIES
AHF/Magic Johnson HIV Testing Van Completes Successful Three
Week, 14 City Southern US Testing Caravan in Washington on Nat'l HIV testing Day
When: SATURDAY June 27th | 1:00pm-5:00pm
Where: Caribbean Carnival (AHF's Positive Healthcare Mobile
Testing & Treatment Clinic & AHF/Magic Johnson Mobile Testing Van) "De Savannah" fenced in
area
Banneker Recreational Park, 2500 Georgia Ave, NW, Washington, DC
Who: Hon.
Muriel Bowser, District of Columbia Council Member, Ward 4
Whitney Engeran-Cordova, Director, Public Health Division,
AHF
Azul Mares-del Grasso, Field Services Manager, AHF PHD (Spanish language), Mary Ashley, AHF Board Member, Condessa
M. Curley, MD, AHF Board Member, Cynthia Davis, AHF Board Member, Rodney Wright, MD, AHF Board Member
·
Local Washington, DC partners & participants:
· The Caribbean Carnival
· City-Gate
·
The Carl Vogel Center
· Peaceoholics
B-ROLL AHF'/Magic Johnson Mobile
HIV Testing Unit with a large photo of Magic Johnson on the side of the van; AHF's Positive Healthcare Mobile Clinic
WASHINGTON
(June 26, 2009) On Saturday, June 27th-National HIV Testing Day-AIDS Healthcare Foundation's (AHF) Magic Johnson HIV Testing
Caravan will arrive in Washington, DC after a successful, three week, fourteen city cross country HIV testing tour that took
the group through several hard-hit Southern U.S. cities and states to raise awareness about the importance-and ease-of HIV
testing. Throughout the tour, testing counselors on the caravan working in conjunction with respected local community partners,
performed over 500 free, rapid HIV tests. The HIV testing caravan culminates with its arrival in Washington with two free
HIV testing events set for Saturday, June 27thand Sunday June 28th Free testing will take place at the Caribbean Festival
from 1pm to 5pm both Saturday and Sunday (Banneker Recreation Park, 2500 Georgia Avenue, NW) and on Saturday in the Washington
Highlands neighborhood of Ward 8 (4226 4th Street SE, Washington DC 20032, cross street: Chesapeake) from 1pm to 5pm. The
Honorable Muriel Bowser, District of Columbia Council Member representing Ward 4, where the Caribbean Carnival is taking place,
will be available to the media in conjunction with this event to talk about the importance of HIV testing. (NOTE: Council
Member Bowser will also be riding in the Caribbean Carnival Parade on Saturday, so it is advised to check ahead for her specific
availability).
Local partners in the District of Columbia for these HIV testing events include the Caribbean Carnival
organizers, City-Gate, Peaceoholics, and the Carl Vogel Center, an HIV/AIDS treatment center where people may be referred
for care as needed.
The testing caravan is an ambitious effort to boost AIDS awareness and HIV prevention and testing efforts
in some of the hardest hit regions of the United States. The caravan includes in one of AHF's popular AHF Mobile HIV Testing
Units, which are named in honor of and partnership with HIV positive basketball legend Earvin Magic Johnson, Jr. and actor
and AIDS advocate Blair Underwood. The tour kicked-off in Los Angeles on Monday, June 8th and culminates with the caravan's
arrival in DC on Saturday morning. AHF is permanently relocating one of the mobile testing units from Los Angeles to D.C.,
to provide free, easy-to-access rapid HIV testing in various neighborhoods throughout the nation's capital, where it was recently
reported that the HIV prevalence rate has surged past 3%-higher than in Lagos, Nigeria.
"While making initial plans to
transport our brand new, state-of-the-art AHF/Magic Johnson Mobile Testing Unit from Los Angeles to Washington, DC, we hit
upon the idea that this cross country road trip presented a unique opportunity to raise awareness about HIV testing, prevention
and treatment through specific testing events and community outreach in cities and states along the way," said Michael Weinstein,
President of AIDS Healthcare Foundation. "As a result, AHF partnered with respected local AIDS and community groups in Phoenix,
Albuquerque, Houston, New Orleans, Jackson, Mississippi; Pensacola, Florida; Montgomery, Alabama; Jacksonville, Atlanta, Columbia,
South Carolina; Charlotte, Norfolk and Washington, DC to host free HIV testing and media events in each of these communities.
At the end of the tour, the AHF/Magic Johnson Mobile Testing Unit will remain and operate in Washington, where AHF will also
open a free AIDS treatment clinic-our first in that city-later this summer."
"The
beauty of these free mobile HIV testing vans is that AIDS Healthcare Foundation operates them right in the heart of the community-in
parking lots of popular retail stores, nearby hip nightclubs and gathering spots, at church events-and they provide the testing,
counseling and results all in one session, so people get their test results right away on the same day," said Blair Underwood,
who attended the Los Angeles kick-off event.
"It
is important that people learn how to avoid becoming infected with HIV; or if they are infected, know their HIV status, and
seek medical treatment, if needed. People really need to know their HIV status today. These HIV testing vans provide that
opportunity for free in a friendly, no hassle way."
During
the testing tour, AIDS Healthcare Foundation will also present grants to each of the local partners AHF is collaborating with
along the way.
Throughout
the course of the 4,220 mile, three week cross country HIV testing tour, HIV testing counselors and AHF staffers will also
supply a steady stream of updates, videos and images via new media: YouTube, Facebook, MySpace and Twitter postings from along
the route, interviews with local partners, government officials and, when appropriate and available, interviews with people
who were tested on the mobile unit.
·
https://www.youtube.com/aidshealth
· http://www.facebook/people/Aidshealth-Care/
·
http://www.twitter.com/freehivtest
· http://www.myspace.com/aidshealth
· http://www.freehivtest.net/testingusa
A
fully outfitted 34 foot HIV/AIDS mobile medical treatment clinic that is operated by AHF's Positive Healthcare in rural areas
of north Florida and in the Panhandle joined the HIV testing caravan starting in New Orleans. The van, affectionately dubbed,
'Bertha,' traveled on with the AHF/Magic Johnson Testing Unit through the remaining Southern and Eastern states and on to
Washington. This mobile clinic will serve as an additional backup HIV testing van along the route. Bertha, however, will return
to service as a mobile medical clinic in Florida after the National HIV Testing event in Washington on June 27th.
HIV
Statistics in the United States
"Last August, the Centers for Disease Control released new data showing an alarming
40% increase in HIV infections in the US-56,000 new cases each year up from a previous estimate of 40,000 new cases annually,"
said Whitney Engeran-Cordova, Director of AIDS Healthcare Foundation's Public Health Division. "There is no doubt that the
South is disproportionately affected by HIV and without adequate resources. On our trip we want to meet our colleagues
in these cities, support agencies in providing testing and do what we can to raise awareness about the genuine need for HIV
testing and treatment throughout the region. The number of new infections in the U.S. is absolutely unacceptable.
We have a responsibility to do what we must to help those with HIV know their status and get linked into care. "
According
to an HIV/AIDS Policy Fact Sheet produced by the Kaiser Family Foundation ("The HIV/AIDS Epidemic in the United States", updated,
February, 2009, with statistics through 2007)
· Ten states account for 71% of AIDS cases reported
since the beginning of the epidemic. Nine of these states also rank in the top 10 for newly reported cases. Three of the states
that the AHF/Magic Johnson Mobile Testing HIV testing Unit will visit on its tour-Texas, Florida, and Georgia-are among these
top ten states; together, they account for 21% of the nation's reported AIDS cases through the end of 2007-or 216,199 cumulative
AIDS cases.
The
Kaiser Fact Sheet also pointed out:
· (AIDS) case rates per 100,000 provide a different
measure of the epidemic's impact, since they reflect the concentration of cases after accounting for differences in population
size across states. The District of Columbia has the highest AIDS case rate in the nation. Seven of the top 10 states by AIDS
case rate are in the South. The AHF/Magic Johnson Mobile HIV Testing Unit tour will travel to and do HIV testing events in
five of these Southern states and areas: Louisiana (, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and the District of Columbia.
Cumulative
AIDS Cases in the DISTRICT of COLUMBIA 1.8% of US total (18,196 AIDS cases through 2007, per CDC)
CONTACT: Ged Kenslea, AHF Communications Director 323.791.5526 (m)
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