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New Hanover County Health Department
began offering HIV screening to county jail inmates in February 2012. Participation
was limited to five to seven individuals each month until October, when the
health department offered a new pair of socks as an incentive for testing. In
the first month of the giveaway program, 78 inmates signed up to be tested for
HIV/AIDS.
Hanover County had 584 HIV-infected
residents in 2011, reported Caree Varughese, HIV/STD outreach coordinator for
the health department. The county ranked seventh in the state of North Carolina
for new cases of HIV and syphilis. Varughese stated it is likely that 15 to 20
percent of HIV-infected people do not know their status.
Data from the North Carolina
Communicable Disease Branch indicated that in Hanover County in 2011, black
women comprised 79 percent of all new HIV infections among females, while black
men comprised 64 percent of new HIV infections among males. Hanover County
outreach targets included men who have sex with men, black women, black men,
and heterosexual persons ages 13 to 28. The health department conducted 19 HIV
testing events between July 1 and December 31, 2012, and tested 365 persons.
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is
dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and
empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV
virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
TOGETHER WE REMAIN STRONG!
