CRESTVIEW — The Florida Department of Health in Okaloosa County is observing National HIV Testing Day by providing a free promotional gift to individuals who take a free confidential HIV test June 24-26 in Crestview.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention state that “about 1.2 million people in the United States were living with HIV at the end of 2011, the most recent year this information was available. Of those people, about 14 percent do not know they are infected.”
HIV-infected persons who do not know that they are infected do not avoid unsafe behaviors. Persons who know they have HIV can get medical care and take antiviral medications that can reduce HIV spread by as much as 96 percent.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Free HIV testing available June 24-26 in Crestview