For Immediate Release

Media Contact: Justin Burke - 213.201.1525

EMAIL:jburke@apla.org

AIDS PROJECT LOS ANGELES JOINS THOUSANDS OF ORGANIZATIONS IN SUPPORT OF NATIONAL HIV TESTING DAY

Los Angeles, CA, June 19, 2003 -- AIDS Project Los Angeles (APLA) joins nearly ten thousand community-based organizations, clinics, and health departments nationwide in support of National HIV Testing Day, Friday, June 27. Sponsored by the National Association of People with AIDS, National HIV Testing Day is a community awareness campaign to encourage all Americans to get tested.

The Centers for Disease Control estimates that there are approximately 200,000 Americans who are HIV positive but unaware of their status. In Los Angeles, it is estimated that one quarter of the 52,000 people living with HIV or AIDS do not know they are infected. “The purpose of National HIV Testing Day is to encourage widespread testing,” stated Craig E. Thompson, Executive Director, APLA. “We need to reach the people who don’t know their status and encourage them to get tested. Through testing, we have an opportunity to provide information on prevention, care and treatment.”

Los Angeles is one of four cities selected to highlight local initiatives for the 9th annual HIV Testing Day. The Magic Johnson Foundation and The Black AIDS Institute will launch HIV testing week with a press conference on Friday, June 20. Celebrities, elected officials and clergy will kick-off a week of free HIV testing, counseling events, a beach party in Coldwater Canyon and community awareness events throughout South Central Los Angeles.

Approximately 600 positive HIV test results go undelivered in California each year, most often because individuals fail to return to testing sites for their results. This year, however, new 20-minute HIV tests -- requiring only a finger stick instead of a blood draw and eliminating weeklong waiting periods for results -- are available at many Los Angeles testing sites.

For a schedule of free testing and counseling opportunities, call the Los Angeles County Office of AIDS Programs and Policy at 800-367-2437, or visit http://lapublichealth.org/aids/testing2003/hivevents2003.htm. For more information about the kick-off press conference, call the Black AIDS Institute at (213) 353-3610.

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