For Immediate
Release
January 30, 2006
WHITMAN-WALKER CLINIC
TO OBSERVE
NATIONAL BLACK HIV/AIDS AWARENESS DAY
Expanded HIV
Testing Will be Available All Day
Washington, DC -
Whitman-Walker Clinic will observe National Black HIV/AIDS
Awareness Day on Tuesday, Feb. 7 with several activities:
-
Free anonymous and confidential
HIV testing will be available from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
at the Elizabeth Taylor Medical Center at 1701 14th St.,
N.W.
-
HIV testing will also
be available at the Max Robinson Center, 2301 Martin Luther
King Jr. Ave., S.E., from 9:30 a.m. to noon for walk-ins
and from noon to 4 p.m. by appointment.
- Whitman-Walker Clinic’s mobile testing
units will conduct HIV testing at the Anacostia Metro station
and at 2907 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave., S.E., from 10 a.m.
to 4 p.m.
-
Whitman-Walker Clinic
of Northern Virginia at 5232 Lee Highway in Arlington
will offer walk-in rapid HIV testing from 10 a.m. to 4
p.m.
-
The Suburban Maryland
AIDS Reduction Team will offer free HIV testing at 7676
New Hampshire Ave., Ste. 414, in Takoma Park from 10 a.m.
to 6 p.m.
“African-Americans account
for eight out of every 10 cases of AIDS in the District
of Columbia,” said Barbara Chinn, director of Max
Robinson Center of Whitman-Walker Clinic. “National
Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day is an opportunity to remind
the nation of how devastating the HIV/AIDS epidemic has
been to the African-American community. It is also an opportunity
to remind African-Americans how important it is to know
their HIV status, protect themselves from HIV infection,
and get into treatment if they are HIV-positive. Although
African-Americans make up only 12 percent of the population
of the United States, we account for more than one-third
of all AIDS cases reported in this country. We must rededicate
ourselves to making sure that African-Americans have the
information and resources they need to protect their health
and their lives.”
Established in 1973, Whitman-Walker
Clinic is a non-profit, community-based provider of health
care and social services in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan
area. Through sites in the District of Columbia and Northern
Virginia, the Clinic offers primary medical and dental care;
mental health and addictions counseling and treatment; HIV
education, prevention and testing; legal services; case
management; and a food bank. Whitman-Walker Clinic is committed
to meeting the life needs of the gay, lesbian, bisexual
and transgender community and people living with HIV/AIDS.
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