National HIV Testing Day 

Collier: June 27th marks the annual observance of National HIV Testing Day (NHTD), which reminds all Americans that HIV testing is an important step in the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that everyone who is at risk for HIV get tested annually. Behaviors that put you ask risk for HIV include having sexual contact with someone how is HIV-positive or whose status you don’t know, injection drug use and sharing equipment, having been diagnosed with or sought treatment for a sexually transmitted disease (STD), having been diagnosed with or sought treatment for hepatitis or tuberculosis, having exchanged sex for money, or having sex with someone who may have any of these risk factors. The decision to take the test is the first step in taking charge of your health.

An estimated 52,000 Americans each year are newly infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Approximately 8 percent of those new infections occur in Florida. New CDC data indicates that there are now over 1.7 million Americans living with HIV, and at least 25 percent of those do not know that they are HIV-positive.

In Collier County, we have over 1,600 reported cases of HIV/AIDS, with an average of 50 new cases each year for the past five years. Whether we realize it or not, HIV/AIDS is in our neighborhoods, and it affects all of us here in Collier County. The Florida Department of Health in Collier County (DOH-Collier) encourages everyone to know their status and take advantage of one of the free testing events offered in observance of NHTD.

Florida Department of Health - Naples:
3339 East Tamiami Trail, Building H; 239-252-8593

Florida Department of Health - Immokalee:
419 1st Street, Immokalee; 239-252-7300

Planned Parenthood of Collier County:
1425 Creech Road, Naples; 239-262-8923

Marion E. Feather Medical Center:
1454 Madison Ave W, Immokalee; 239-658-3000