Texas
Official: National HIV Testing Day ‘Success’
By Ben Briscoe
Jul 3, 2008 - 2:27:47 AM

Record numbers and a decreased positive test return rate from last year have Associate Executive Director of the Resource Center of Dallas Bret Camp saying National HIV Testing Day was a success in North Texas.

A total of 255 people showed up Friday, June 27 for free HIV tests at the Resource Center. That number is up from a little more than 150 last year.

“It feels very validating,” Camp said. “We are doing the right thing for the right population.”

Camp credits several high profile HIV cases in the area this year for the high turn out, as well as a targeted media campaign by Dallas County that promoted the event.

Out of everyone that showed up, the Resource Center estimates 4 to 5 percent are HIV positive.

“That many people now have an opportunity to take care of their health,” Camp said. “It will allow people to maintain their health with HIV longer.”

That number is down 50 percent from last year’s 8 percent positive return rate. The decrease is incongruent with a Centers for Disease Control report released this week.

The report says that HIV infection rates among men who have sex with men, a target demographic for the Resource Center, have increased 8.6 percent since 2001, and 1.5 percent in the last year alone. HIV rates increased the most among young gay men — 12 percent last year.

The report further breaks down the increase in young gays by showing that the highest increase among any ethnic group was blacks with 15 percent.

“These men represent a new generation that have not been personally affected by AIDS in the same way that their older peers were,” Richard Wolitski, director of HIV-AIDS prevention at CDC wrote in the report that also suggested a “second wave” of the AIDS epidemic could hit the community soon.

Camp says the new numbers stress that now more than ever, the community needs to continue encouraging people to learn their HIV status, even though another National HIV Testing Day is a year away.

“We need to continue with the message that early detection is key,” he said. “And next year I hope to double the number of people who came this year.”

The Resource Center offers HIV testing Monday through Thursday by appointment. For more information, call 214-528-2336.