Get Tested: It's World AIDS Day

In support of World AIDS Day, the Cleveland Department of Public Health (CDPH) encourages public participation in this week's National HIV/AIDS Strategy Town Hall meeting.

Other HIV/AIDS awareness activities, such as the It's All About You HIV testing event, will be held in the hopes of raising awareness for World AIDS Day.

The CDC estimates there are about 56,000 new HIV infections in the U.S. every year. There are 2,896 people in Cleveland currently living with HIV/AIDS, and there are 4,036 persons who are currently living with HIV/AIDS in Cuyahoga County. World AIDS Day provides an opportunity for all of us - individuals, communities and political leaders - to take action and ensure that human rights are protected and global targets for HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care are met.

This year's World AIDS Day presents the residents of Cleveland and all of Ohio with an opportunity to provide formal testimony to the White House, Office of National AIDS Policy for the development of a National HIV/AIDS Strategy.

The White House wants to hear from consumers, advocates and providers of HIV/AIDS services; as well as community members about their recommendations for: 1) Reducing HIV incidence; 2) Increasing access to care and optimizing health outcomes; and 3) Reducing HIV-related health disparities. The Office of National AIDS Policy has scheduled Ohio's only Town Hall Meeting in Cleveland. The public meeting will be held on Thursday, December 3, 2009, 6-9PM at First United Methodist Church, 3000 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44115. RSVPs are requested to the Ohio AIDS Coalition (OAC) at 800-226-5554 or info@ohioaidscoalition.org. The CDPH encourages the public to participate in this event and share their ideas on how to respond to HIV/AIDS in the United States.

The CDPH also encourages all residents to get an HIV test so they will know their HIV status. An estimated 20-25% of people with HIV are unaware of their infection. The lack of knowledge about their HIV status prevents them from accessing the medical care they need to be healthy and to reduce the possibility that they will spread the virus to others. To find a free HIV test, call 1-800-332-AIDS (2437) or visit www.hivtest.org. Free rapid HIV testing is available at the City of Cleveland's Thomas McCafferty and J. Glen Smith Health Centers. Additionally, the Agape Program will host the It's All About You World AIDS Day HIV testing event at the Civic Center, 3130 Mayfield Road, Cleveland Heights, Ohio on Saturday, December 5, 2009 from 12pm-6pm. There will be a special guest appearance and fashion presentation by Shaker Heights native, Sheree Whitfield of "The Real Housewives of Atlanta".

World AIDS Day…/add one

Ongoing HIV/STD Testing in the Greater Cleveland Area

J Glen Smith Health Center Thomas F. McCafferty Health Center

11100 St. Clair Ave., Cleveland 4242 Lorain Ave., Cleveland

216-249-4100 216-651-5005

The Free Clinic of Greater Cleveland Planned Parenthood of Northeast Ohio

12201 Euclid Ave. Cleveland 3500 Lorain Ave., Suite 400, Cleveland

216-721-4010 216-991-8804

2009 World AIDS Day Events in Cleveland

CWRU/UH/Metro AIDS Clinical Trials Unit/John T. Carey Special Immunology Unit

12th Annual World AIDS Day Patient & Community Update and Awareness, Tuesday, December 1, 2009 at 6:00pm. CWRU Wolstein Research Building, 2103 Cornell Road, Cleveland

For additional information contact: 216-844-2247 or email rob2@case.edu; www.clevelandactu.org

City Club of Cleveland, Friday, December 11th at noon, Jeffrey S. Crowley, MPH, Senior Research Scholar at Georgetown University's Health Policy Institute, appointed by President Barack Obama as the Director of the Office of National AIDS Policy, has been coordinating the federal government's efforts on HIV/AIDS policy and has helped to guide the administration's development of disability policies since February 2009.

Tickets are available by contacting The City Club at (216) 621-0082 or www.cityclub.org and are $18 for members, $30 for non-members.

Community Outreach w/AIDS Funding Collaborative & Community Partners

Community Outreach w/ AIDS Funding Collaborative & Community Volunteers will distribute HIV prevention literature at the RTA Rapid Stations, November 30, 2009 from 4pm-6pm. For additional information contact: Melissa Federman at 216-781-2944 x412.

Care Alliance Health Center, 1530 St. Clair Avenue, Cleveland, 216-781-6228 x425 RSVP

World AIDS Day Memorial & Social, Tuesday, December 1, 2009 from 12:00pm-1:30pm.

Free Medical Clinic of Greater Cleveland, 12201 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, 216-721-4010

Free HIV Testing and premiere of a new HIV/AIDS Awareness Video on Tuesday, December 1, 2009 from 4pm - 7:30pm. Reception with light refreshments will follow.

MetroHealth & The Cleveland Institute of Art present:

AIDS Memorial Quilt Display, November 30-December 8, 2009 from 8am-9pm daily at MetroHealth Medical Center, Rammelkamp Atrium, 2500 MetroHealth Drive, Cleveland, 44109.

Documentary Film Screening "Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt" Tuesday, December 1, 2009 from 12pm-1:30pm MetroHealth Medical Center, Scott Auditorium.

Closing AIDS Memorial Quilt Reception w/ local quilt panels displayed: Tuesday, December 8, 2009 from 5:30pm-7:30pm MetroHealth Medical Center, Rammelkamp Atrium.