News from HANCI - The Health Association of Niagara County, Inc.

National HIV Testing Day touches down in Niagara Falls

June 21, 2011

NEWS RELEASE

JUNE 21, 2011

CONTACT: Richard R. Haynes, Niagara County AIDS Task Force, 716-285-8224, ext. 227

The Niagara County AIDS Task Force is collaborating with the Community Health Center of Niagara, the Niagara University School of Nursing, the Niagara Ministerial Council and Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church to promote HIV testing in the African-American community, which is disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS. According to the latest data available, nearly 1,200 of the 2,800 Western New Yorkers living with HIV/AIDS are African-American.

The kickoff is at 1 p.m. Sunday, June 26. Under the theme “Lead by Example,” Pastor Timothy J. Brown Sr. will be tested for HIV in the sanctuary of Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church, 1334 Calumet Ave., Niagara Falls. Joining him will be Niagara Falls Council Member Charles Walker; the Rev. Jimmie Seright, executive director of the New Jerusalem of Niagara Falls Reporting Center for Boys; the Rev. Gary Jackson of St. Mark Open Door Church; Xavier Walker of the anti-gun violence group SNUG; Judith Maness, chief executive officer of Mount St. Mary’s Hospital, and Shelley Hirshberg, executive director of the P2 Collaborative. Members of the congregation will then be invited to go downstairs to the community room to take the Rapid HIV Test – which simply involves a swipe of gums, no finger-prick or blood draw.

There will be refreshments, prizes, free blood-pressure checks and HIV/AIDS educational materials available, too.

Also, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Monday, June 27 – National HIV Testing Day – there will be free rapid testing at the Community Health Center of Niagara, 501 10^th St., Niagara Falls.

There are a number of good reasons to be tested for HIV. About a quarter of HIV-positive Americans don’t know they are infected. Those who take the test and get a negative result can put their minds at rest. Those who test positive can begin prompt anti-retroviral treatment to prevent AIDS and maintain a healthy immune system. They also can take steps to protect others, such as by practicing safe sex and by informing previous sexual partners that they, too, need to be tested. And HIV-positive women who are pregnant or want to become pregnant can learn how to prevent mother-to-child HIV infection.

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