In an effort to boost AIDS awareness and HIV prevention and testing efforts in some of the hardest hit regions of the United States, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the nation’s largest non-profit AIDS organization, which currently operates the largest community-based HIV testing program in California, will kick off a three week, fourteen-city cross country HIV testing tour in one of its popular AHF/Magic Johnson Mobile HIV Testing Units. AHF is permanently relocating one of the mobile testing units from Los Angeles to Washington, DC, to provide free, easy-to-access rapid HIV testing in various neighborhoods throughout the nation’s capital. The HIV prevalence rate has surged past 3%—higher than in Lagos, Nigeria in Washington D.C.
As AHF staffers and HIV testing counselors drive the van from Los Angeles to Washington through many Southern and Eastern states, AHF’s ‘whistle stop’ testing tour will seek to heighten awareness about HIV testing in local communities along the route. The AHF/Magic Johnson Mobile Testing Unit Cross Country HIV Testing Tour kicks off with a press conference and Indy 500-style flag waving ceremony for the van on Monday, June 8th at 11:00am (PDT) from AHF’s Carl Bean House in the West Adams District of Los Angeles, the site of one of AHF’s Magic Johnson Healthcare Centers. The cross country tour will include free HIV testing and press events in each city along the way, with local agencies and local and federal politicians participating. The trip culminates with the mobile unit’s arrival in Washington, DC on Saturday, June 27th—National HIV Testing Day.
For instant updates on the tour and where to find the testing units in your area, follow : HIV Test on Twitter or official website: FreeHIVTest.net