Knox County Health Department

June 26, 2008                                                                
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Ranee Randby,
Knox County Health Department    
215-5534 or 388-6186

National HIV Testing Day is June 27

“Knowledge is Power.”
– Sir Francis Bacon

Tomorrow, June 27, is National HIV Testing Day with it’s theme: Take control. Take the test. Knox County Health Department encourages everyone who is sexually active to get tested. Testing is always free and confidential at the Communicable Disease Clinic in the Main Health Department facility at 140 Dameron Avenue.

As a special community outreach to help raise public awareness about National HIV Testing Day, KCHD will also offer free and confidential HIV testing at Hardy Clinic, 2202 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. tomorrow. The goal is to help people take control of their health by helping those who test positive – and weren’t aware they had HIV – access treatment. Testing also prevents new HIV infections by increasing education, awareness and access to counseling.

HIV/AIDS is often thought to be a problem only in the homosexual population, but minority women (African American and Latino) are the fastest growing group of new infections, according to the National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These groups account for almost 70 percent of new infections.

The Knox County Health Department (KCHD) is committed to promoting public health practices that safeguard and improve quality of life for all residents. KCHD offers an array of resources, including medical and dental services, family planning, disease surveillance and control, emergency preparedness, air quality management, environmental services, food preparation oversight in public places, special nutritional programs for women with children and much more. For more information on the Knox County Health Department, visit www.knoxcounty.org/health.