Hiv Testing

The Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland, in partnership with a number of faith-based volunteer groups, set up clinics at churches and faith-based community centers around Baltimore Monday to provide free HIV testing services and to raise awareness about getting tested. Maryland has the second-highest HIV/AIDS infection rate in the nation, according to Dr. Robert Redfield, director of clinical care at IHV, who joined advocates, politicians and volunteers at Seventh Metro Baptist Church in the Charles North neighborhood.

Wellness classes Howard County General Hospital will offer the following wellness classes in April and May. Classes will be held at the HCGH Wellness Center, 10710 Charter Drive, Suite 100, Columbia unless otherwise listed. Register in advance online at http://www.hcgh.org or call 410-740-7601. •Shoulder pain: Dr. Umasuthan Srikumaran, orthopedic surgeon, will discuss common shoulder injuries, such as rotator cuff and labrum tears, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, April 23. •Happy baby: Learn successful techniques to soothe your crying baby and promote restful sleep for your infant, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday, April 23. This course is for parents of babies up to 3 months old. $50 per couple.

Boston. -- It's almost nine months now, nearly a full gestation period. Time to come to term, or at least to terms, with a new point of view.In November, there was something akin to good news in the often gloomy world of AIDS research. A federal study found that HIV- infected women who took the drug AZT during their pregnancy could reduce the risk of transmitting the virus to their babies by as much as two-thirds.This not only changed the odds of having a healthy baby, it added weight to the importance of HIV testing.

Its incredible that with all of the articles on HIV and AIDS, the fact that the FDA has finally approved of a 15-minute over-the-counter test for HIV has barely been mentioned ("Rapid at-home HIV test gains federal approval," July 4). You talk about unprotected sex, you talk about abstinence, you talk about condoms, etc., but here we have a method to "privately and immediately " determine whether your partner is HIV positive. One would think this would be a strong deterrent for unprotected sex, but it seems like it's a taboo subject.

Despite federal regulations that virtually all adults be routinely tested for HIV in emergency rooms and doctors' offices, people at risk for contracting the virus are not getting tested, a coalition of researchers and health experts has warned. The Forum for Collaborative HIV Research, based at George Washington University's School of Public Health, said yesterday that testing is the key to ending the epidemic in the United States. Of the nation's estimated 1.1 million people living with HIV, one in five do not know it and those who are being diagnosed are learning the news too late, the group said.

Amid mounting concern over the heavy burden of HIV/AIDS on the black community, public and private groups throughout the region will offer free testing today in observance of National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. "I haven't seen another issue with the kind of community involvement we have on AIDS," Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, Baltimore's health commissioner, said at a news conference yesterday. Sharfstein and other health advocates urged people of all races who aren't sure of their HIV status to have themselves tested and, if they test positive, to enter counseling and treatment programs.

Hoping to stem the skyrocketing number of new HIV cases in Northwest Baltimore, politicians, health officials and community leaders are launching a wide-ranging initiative today so that more residents are tested for the deadly virus and counseled. The plan includes new testing sites and drug treatment slots, as well as tapping such resources as churches, anti-crime programs and social service agencies. The Maryland Partners PUSH Campaign (Partners United to Stop HIV) is spending what some consider a modest sum on the problem - about $90,000 - and the ideas are not new. But observers say the effort, which Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend and Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, a Baltimore Democrat, are announcing in conjunction with World AIDS Day, which is tomorrow, is a significant step to turn around dismal statistics.

Federal health officials recommended yesterday that HIV testing become a routine part of medical care for everyone ages 13 to 64, reversing old guidelines that directed most tests to people considered at high risk. Under the policy, announced by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, tests would be offered by primary care doctors and in emergency rooms, community health centers, substance abuse programs, prisons and other settings where patients receive care. Routine tests would reach many of the estimated 250,000 people in the U.S. who unknowingly carry the virus that causes AIDS, Dr. Julie L. Gerberding, the CDC director, said in a conference call.

Saying they have been too silent for too long in the fight against HIV and AIDS, leaders of several Baltimore faith-based groups converted nearly a dozen churches Tuesday into places where people could be tested for the virus without fear of being stigmatized. The JACQUES Initiative - a program at the Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine - launched Project SHALEM in partnership with the Maryland AIDS Administration and several local faith-based and community organizations.

Battling one of the nation's worst HIV epidemics, Baltimore has joined a growing list of cities to employ a test that detects the virus at an early stage of infection - and could lead authorities to "hot spots" where the virus is being transmitted. Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, the city's health commissioner, said his department recently made the test available at the city's east- and west-side health clinics. The agency also plans to make it available through community organizations offering HIV testing and counseling.

Of all the city's neighborhoods, Upton/Druid Heights ranks lowest in life expectancy, with AIDS as the fourth-leading cause of death. The Rev. Frank M. Reid III, pastor of Bethel AME Church in the heart of the neighborhood, is well aware of the alarming statistics and is resolved to combat them. He is launching a three-night conference for singles, starting Monday, that will focus on sexual healing and health. No subject is off-limits, he said. "It is time to begin a conversation about sex, a conversation in a church, in a sanctuary that is a safe place," he said.

As National HIV Testing Day approaches, there will be a testing event held this week in Baltimore and the launch of an educational campaign. This will be the fourth year for Project SHALEM's City Uprising HIV Outreach Day , a collaboration with the University of Maryland's JACQUES Initiative at the Institute of Human Virology. It will involved 400 volunteers to provide testing and links to care. The project has trained hundreds of people from faith, academic and community circles to test more than 5,500 people.

In observance of 2011 National HIV Testing Day, the Harford County Health Department will offer anonymous, no-cost HIV testing on a walk-in basis on Monday, June 27, from 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. at the Health Services Division office on the top floor of 1 N. Main St. in Bel Air. The department will also have free refreshments and other giveaways. According to the health department, the National HIV Testing Day is designed to increase awareness among all populations and to encourage everyone to be tested.

The party for some 400 of Baltimore's gay and transgender community of color, held at a downtown hotel, included fishnet stockings and stilettos, music and dancing — as well as bowls of condoms and free HIV testing. Inside the Sheraton Inner Harbor hotel, workers from the city and local universities were stationed at tables, armed with pamphlets about dental services, food stamps and housing, plus free goodies such as water bottles. Before guests could enter the main hall, workers approached them, promoting the benefits of HIV testing.

Baltimore continues to lead major American cities in the percentage of gay men infected with HIV, according to a recently released report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 38 percent of men who have sex with men in Baltimore were infected — twice the overall percentage in the 21 cities studied by the CDC in 2008. More troubling, researchers said, was the number of those who were unaware of their infection. That was nearly three-quarters in Baltimore and rising, compared with about 44 percent nationwide.

The Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland, in partnership with a number of faith-based volunteer groups, set up clinics at churches and faith-based community centers around Baltimore Monday to provide free HIV testing services and to raise awareness about getting tested. Maryland has the second-highest HIV/AIDS infection rate in the nation, according to Dr. Robert Redfield, director of clinical care at IHV, who joined advocates, politicians and volunteers at Seventh Metro Baptist Church in the Charles North neighborhood.

The party for some 400 of Baltimore's gay and transgender community of color, held at a downtown hotel, included fishnet stockings and stilettos, music and dancing — as well as bowls of condoms and free HIV testing. Inside the Sheraton Inner Harbor hotel, workers from the city and local universities were stationed at tables, armed with pamphlets about dental services, food stamps and housing, plus free goodies such as water bottles. Before guests could enter the main hall, workers approached them, promoting the benefits of HIV testing.

Nineteen people in Harford County died of AIDS in the year that ended March 31, 1994, nearly doubling the number who died of the disease the previous year.The statistics were included in a communicable disease update presented to the County Council Tuesday by county Health Officer Thomas M. Thomas and his staff.Mr. Thomas also noted that 96 cases of AIDS have been reported in Harford County. That figure has more than doubled since 1991, he told the council, which also sits as the Board of Health.