DHEC encourages HIV testing in recognition of National HIV Testing Day
June 26, 2016
COLUMBIA, SC – National HIV Testing Day is June 27, 2016, and the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) is encouraging South Carolinians to get tested.
“More than 16,000 individuals are currently living with HIV/AIDS in South Carolina,” said DHEC Director of Health Services Lisa Davis. “Early detection through testing for HIV remains essential to successfully identifying and treating the disease and is critical to preventing new infections.”
One in eight people living with HIV in the United States don’t know they have it. That means they are not receiving the care and treatment necessary to help improve their health and prevent transmission.
“Most people in the early stages of HIV infection have no symptoms,” Davis said. “Early diagnosis can link people to services that will help them stay healthy longer, benefit most from treatment, reduce costly hospital visits and help prevent transmission to others.”
According to the CDC, an estimated 90 percent of new HIV infections in the United States could be prevented by testing and diagnosing people who have HIV and ensuring they receive prompt, ongoing care and treatment. National HIV Testing Day promotes HIV testing and early diagnosis. Through DHEC clinics and partnering community providers, testing in 2015 helped diagnose and link 496 people to HIV medical care who otherwise might have not known their status until much later.
For more information about HIV testing, as well as local HIV testing sites, call DHEC’s AIDS/STD Hotline at 1-800-322-AIDS (1-800-322-2437), or visit DHEC’s website at scdhec.gov/HIV.
Monday, June 27, 2016
Fetter Health Care Network
51 Nassau St.
Charleston, S.C. 29403
9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
AHF, Eau Claire CHC, PALSS, SCHAC
Backyard BBQ Bash
1228 Harden St.
Columbia, S.C. 29204
2 p.m. – 7 p.m.
Sandhills Medical Foundation
2468 Main St.
Elgin, S.C. 29045
10 a.m. – 1 p.m.
CareSouth Carolina Inc. Care Innovations
Walgreens
901 S. 5th St.
Hartsville, S.C. 29550
10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Piedmont Care, Inc.
Wells Fargo Building
101 N. Pine St. Ste. 200
Spartanburg, S.C. 29302
8:30 a.m. – noon; 3 p.m. – 7 p.m.
