Montanans should be tested for HIV

Editor:

As we recognize World AIDS Day on Thursday, we encourage all Montanans to join the global fight to prevent the spread of HIV and support people living with HIV/AIDS.

The recent global economic turmoil has raised fears that financial commitments to the AIDS response may decrease while factors such as poverty that make people vulnerable to the disease will increase.

The fight against AIDS is global, but it is also local. It is estimated that one in five Americans who are infected with HIV don't know it. In Montana, more than 400 people are living with HIV/AIDS. Many other Montanans may be infected with HIV and not realize it.

Montana family planning clinics are kicking off this year's World AIDS Day with the "Get Checked" campaign urging Montanans to learn their HIV status. I encourage Montanans to join their peers and get checked for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases before Valentine's Day.

We are offering walk-in HIV testing to men and women on Thursday at the Hill County Health Department from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. and at the Montana State University-Northern Student Union Building from 1 to 3 p.m.

For questions, call 265-5481, ext. 256.

Get checked; know your status. Visit http://www.getcheckedmt.com.

Wanda Meredith. registered nurse

Hill County Family Planning