The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) can lead to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) if not treated. The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention estimates that 1.2 million people in the U.S. have HIV, and about 13% do not know they have it and should be tested.
“The only way to know for sure whether you have HIV is to get tested,” Montgomery County Health Commissioner Jennifer Wentzel stated in a release from Public Health. “Knowing your HIV status helps you make healthy decisions to prevent getting or transmitting HIV and opens the door to prevention or treatment services that enable individuals to live a long and healthy life.”
Ohio in 2020 recorded 897 new HIV cases, with 56 from Clark, Darke, Greene, Miami, Montgomery and Preble counties. Of those new cases, 35 were from Montgomery County alone, the release stated.
Information on additional HIV testing follows:
Clark County, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday at Southern Village, 1209-3 Sunset Ave., Springfield, sponsored by Clark County Health District
Greene County, 1:30 to 4 p.m. Monday with a special educational presentation at 3 p.m., Greene County Public Health, 360 Wilson Drive, Xenia
Montgomery County
- 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday in the parking lot of the Dr. Charles R. Drew Health Center, 1323 W. Third St., Dayton, sponsored by Public Health - Dayton & Montgomery County. Chance to win a $50 Kroger gift card
- 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 30, Equitas Health Medical Center (in the Wright Health Building) 1222 S. Patterson Blvd., Dayton. Free swag bag and chance to win a $25 gift card.
For free at-home tests, visit OHIV.org and for more testing sites near you, call 800-CDC-INFO (232-4636), visit http://hivtest.cdc.gov, or on your cellphone to text your ZIP code to KNOW IT (566948) or call 937.496.7133.
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