INDIANAPOLIS—The Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) invites Hoosiers to participate in World AIDS Day on Thursday, Dec. 1. The annual observance is designed to raise awareness of HIV and support individuals living with HIV, as well as those working to prevent the disease.
In the 28 years since the World Health Organization and the United Nations established World AIDS Day, communities around the world have held events to create awareness about the risk factors for HIV in an effort to stop the spread of infection. The ISDH Division of HIV/STD continues to support its many partners in this campaign and encourages Hoosiers to get tested for HIV.
“Everyone should know their HIV status, and today is a great opportunity to remind people of that,” said State Health Commissioner Jerome Adams, M.D., M.P.H. “HIV is no longer the death sentence it once was. It is a chronic disease that can be managed with treatment, but it has to be detected first.”
Almost 12,000 Hoosiers are currently living with HIV/AIDS, and 6,590 people in Indiana have died after contracting HIV over the past 30 years.
ISDH has taken steps to honor those impacted by HIV and AIDS. The agency has displayed two panels of the AIDS quilt, which was created to celebrate the lives of those who have died of the disease, at its headquarters in downtown Indianapolis, and members of the HIV/STD division will distribute red ribbons to agency staff.
“On World AIDS Day, ISDH will be side-by-side with our many external partners as we continue to shine the spotlight on this disease that continues to affect the lives of so many,” said Dennis Stover, director of ISDH’s HIV/STD division.
Many locations across Indiana will offer free HIV testing on World AIDS Day. To find a testing site near you, please visit www.hivtest.org.
Visit the Indiana State Department of Health at www.StateHealth.in.gov for important health and safety information or follow us on Twitter at @StateHealthIN and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/isdh1.
