Free AIDS testing in Pinellas, Hillsborough

[Free anonymous AIDS tests were given during the World AIDS Day Wellness Fair at at Williams Park. Willie J. Allen, Jr.]

Public health advocates hope to reawaken concern about the AIDS virus in this year's observance of World AIDS Day.

"It's not on the radar screen as much as it used to be, but it's still just as big an issue,'' said Lisa Cohen, HIV/AIDS program coordinator for Pinellas County. "We want to make sure people are aware.''

As part of this year's Tampa Bay observance, you can get a free HIV test today in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties.

Pinellas is offering the AIDS tests, as well as health screenings, flu shots and syphilis testing, at a wellness fair in Williams Park in downtown St. Petersburg from noon to 4 p.m.

The Hillsborough County Health Department is offering free HIV and STD testing at its office at 1105 E Kennedy Blvd.

Cohen hopes people will take advantage of the free HIV test, which usually costs $20 (though people who can't pay will never be turned away).

"People need to know their status so they don't infect others," she said.

The test is also available free today at all five health department offices in Pinellas County.

"HIV should be a routine test done at a doctor's office, but it's not," Cohen said.

Since testing began in 1981:
- Pinellas County has documented 4,426 people with AIDS.
- Hillsborough has had 6,750 cases.
- Pasco has had 792 cases.

Statewide, 112,658 people have gotten AIDS, and 61,934 (or 55 percent) have died from it.

In Pinellas, about 69 percent of the people who have gotten AIDS were gay or bisexual men and 7 percent were heterosexual. But Cohen points out that the face of AIDS has been changing with more women and minorities getting the disease.

The World AIDS Day wellness fair is sponsored by the city of St. Petersburg, the Pinellas County Health Department and the HIV/AIDS community Planning Partnership. For more information, call the HIV/AIDS program at 824-6900, ext. 11453. The St. Petersburg center is at 205 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St. N.

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