November 16, 2017 BY imani leave a comment
The University of Texas at Dallas will be hosting the 2017 HIV/AIDS Awareness Week November 27 – December 1, leading up to World AIDS Day on December 1st.
HIV/AIDS Awareness Week will focus on education and prevention efforts, and will also include a display of panels from the AIDS Memorial Quilt, a special display of student artwork, an interactive electronic poetry display by Labsynthe (Laboratory of Synthetic and Electronic Poetry) and a reading of names of people who died of HIV/AIDS and whose lives are celebrated by the
AIDS Memorial Quilt
quilt. Free HIV testing will be offered Nov. 28 and Nov. 30 by Prism Health North Texas — an agency that focuses on HIV education, research, prevention and care — and Dec. 1 by the UT Dallas Student Wellness Center.
“It’s important to talk about sexually transmitted diseases. Who can get AIDS? Everyone, not only stigmatized populations,” said Leticia Ferreira, a PhD student in ATEC who is helping organize the week’s activities.
“Everything’s treatable if you know you have it. We are all about getting tested and knowing your status,” Ferreira said.
Kacey Sebeniecher, director of the Student Wellness Center, said she encourages anyone who is sexually active to be tested at least once a year for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. Besides the free testing during HIV/AIDS Awareness Week, the center offers free HIV testing once a month during the fall and spring semesters, and the Student Health Center offers testing at a reduced cost for UT Dallas students.
MASS will be offering free HIV testing in recognition of World AIDS Day at Norfolk State University and Thomas Nelson Community College on Nov. 30 from 10am – 3pm. Students and staff will be provided free and confidential HIV Testing, and will be given free condoms and literature on HIV, PrEP, and STDs. Check out the MASS Events page for more info.