Celebrate World AIDS Day – December 1, 2013 With a Positive Action

Celebrate World AIDS Day – December 1, 2013 With a Positive Action

HIV impacts all of us in one way or another.  Here in the US, more than a million people are living with HIV. These people are all related to someone in one way or another: mother, sister, aunt, friend, cousin, brother, dad, uncle, etc. The federal theme for World AIDS Day 2013, Shared Responsibility- Strengthening Results For an AIDS-FREE Generation. We need to exert more pressure on ourselves, triple all our efforts, to ensure we completely eradicate HIV and AIDS.

And, yes, it can be done. Testing, of course, remains key.     This is the first positive step that all of us can take. Get tested. Know your status. Remember, HIV does not discriminate across gender, race or age.

This is also in line with the general global theme,  Getting To  Zero, for the celebrations. Getting To  Zero reflects the universal goal of achieving a new world status of zero new infections, zero new babies born with HIV and zero deaths resulting from HIV and AIDS related complications. It is probably not in doubt that we all share this desire but the only way to address it is by getting tested.  The good news is that when people test negative, they usually do everything they can to maintain that status. This protective behavior forms a large part of the shared responsibility towards a common goal of Getting to Zero.

It therefore remains very important and cannot be over-emphasized: Get tested today.

W.O.M.E.N. provides HIV testing and counseling Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Call 615-256-3882 to book your appointment today.