Harford County Health Department Supports World AIDS Day Observance; Free Confidential Testing

From the Harford County Health Department:

On Tuesday, December 1st, 2015 in support of World AIDS Day, the Harford County Health Department will offer free walk-in confidential or anonymous HIV testing at 1 N. Main Street, Bel Air, MD 21014 from 9:00AM to 1:00PM.

Conceived in 1988 as the first-ever global health observance, World AIDS Day falls annually on December 1st. In the U.S., the National Centers for Disease Control and public health partners locally and worldwide unite people in the fight against HIV, to encourage action in support of people living with HIV and to memorialize those who have died. The 2015 theme, “Getting to Zero” was selected by the World AIDS Campaign (WAC) to reinforce the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) vision of achieving “Zero new HIV infections. Zero discrimination. Zero AIDS-related deaths.”

The National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 1,218,400 persons in the United States aged 13 years and older are living with HIV infection, including 156,300 (12.8%) who are unaware of their infection. Over the past decade, the number of people living with HIV has increased, while the annual number of new HIV infections has remained relatively stable. Since the beginning of the epidemic, approximately 70 million people worldwide have been infected with HIV and more than 35 million people have died from the virus, making it one of the most destructive pandemics in history. World AIDS Day reinforces the importance of better understanding about the condition, the passage of laws to protect people living with HIV and the many scientific advances made in HIV treatment.

Harford County Health Officer Susan Kelly states, “The impact of HIV on society crosses the boundaries of sexual orientation, gender, age, and ethnicity. World AIDS Day serves as a reminder to everyone throughout the world, in the United States and across all local communities, of the importance of taking action to curb the HIV epidemic through testing, prevention, and treatment.”

Visit AIDS.gov for information from the Federal government about HIV/AIDS prevention, testing, treatment, and research. Also visit www.harfordcountyhealth.com or call 410-638-3060 for more information about Harford County Health Department services and resources.