The V.I. nonprofit, HOPE Inc., is using the entire month of June to remind people how pervasive and deadly the AIDS virus can be—and giving residents a chance to get tested.
“It’s very important to know your status,” said HOPE Outreach Coordinator Felney Augustine. “By us reaching out there and providing testing … it shows that it is important to get tested.”
The group is offering HIV testing at the UVI St. Thomas campus Thursday, June 17 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. They are also joining with Planned Parenthood for an event at Oswald Harris Court on Saturday, June 19 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. to offer testing and information.
And HOPE will again be on hand at the Relay for Life on Saturday, June 26.
An early-morning testing event is scheduled Tuesday June 29 at Holy Family church from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. so that people can be tested on their way to work.
“The test is only 20 minutes,” Augustine said. “Quick and easy.”
According to the group, the Caribbean ranks second only to sub-Saharan Africa for AIDS prevalence. The United Nations estimates that in 2006, 19,000 residents of the Caribbean died of AIDS and an additional 250,000 were living with the virus.
For more information about HOPE and its full schedule of activities, visit www.hopeincvi.org/.
