National HIV-Testing Day Is Friday, June 27
It’s always easy in Austin to get an HIV test, but on National HIV-Testing Day, June 27, it’s going to be even easier.Free testing will be available from 9am until 3pm at Pease Park, located along Shoal Creek just west of Lamar, south of 24th Street. The Austin/Travis County Health Department will have a mobile unit there, providing testing and counseling about HIV and sexually transmitted diseases. From 3 to 7pm, the van will be in East Austin at Mitchie’s Fine Black Arts, 5706 Manor Rd.
These Testing Day sites, just like the Health Department’s regular locations, will be staffed by savvy, friendly folks who know what they’re doing. The test can be either anonymous (no real name) or confidential. Counseling will be provided so that people understand what the test actually is going to tell them, the nature of risk behaviors, and how those risks might be avoided in the future.
For those of you who are afraid of needles, relax. It can also be done with a type of mouth swab; a blood draw isn’t required. For people who have risk for hepatitis C, that test can also be performed.
For more information or for HIV testing at other times at the regular sites call 972-5580. For UT students, the Student Health Center is always a convenient location (475-8265).
As a city, Austin has a disproportionately high per-capita rate of HIV infection, reflecting our very youthful population. And if Austin is like the rest of the country, probably a third of those infected don’t know it. The only way to really know your HIV status is to take the test — and take control!
This article appears in June 20 • 2003.