DHEC offering free testing in honor of National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
COLUMBIA, SC (WOLO)– Today is National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, and the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control is offering free testing tomorrow at participating health departments. The health agency says African Americans are disproportionately affected by HIV and AIDS nationally both and here in South Carolina, accounting for 68% of the total people living in South Carolina with the disease in 2019, even though they only make up 27% of our state’s population.
Officials say Monday’s day of observance is in hopes of lessening the HIV burden in Black communities through education and testing. DHEC encourages South Carolinians to take advantage of the free testing opportunity.
“As stated in South Carolina’s Ending the Epidemics Plan, our goal is to reduce new infections by 75 percent in the first five years of the plan,” Ali Manasary, DHEC’s director for the division of STD, HIV, and Viral Hepatitis said. “This is aligned with the national Ending the HIV Epidemic plan. To achieve this goal, we are dedicated to eliminating stigma and increasing awareness in South Carolina.”
You can call DHEC’s AIDS/HIV Hotline at 1-800-322-AIDS (1-800-322-2437), or visit DHEC‘s service locator at www.scdhec.gov/HIVLocator to set up an appointment.
