December serves to raise AIDS/HIV awareness levels
Posted on Monday, December 24, 2007
In the midst of preparing for the holidays and making New Year's resolutions, many people will let December go by without realizing that it is national AIDS awareness month.
But the Washington County HIV Clinic continues to quietly provide care for people living with the disease in Northwest Arkansas.
Rick Johnson, of the Washington County Health Department, said many people aren't aware that there are people living with HIV / AIDS in the community or that there are resources available.
This year there were 601 reported HIV / AIDS cases, Johnson said. There were 113 deaths as a result of the disease and 86 people infected with the disease moved out of the area. The clinic, which opened in 1992 as the result of a Health Advisory Panel organized to study the problem of HIV in Washington County, serves Washington, Benton and Madison counties. Of the 601 cases, 377 of them came from Washington County, 219 from Benton County and five from Madison County.
The clinic is funded by Washington County and Washington Regional Medical Center as well as private and corporate donations. Services provided at the clinic include HIV case management, HIV education, HIV prevention education, HIV testing and treatment. The clinic, Johnson said, has a 78 percent survival rate compared to the state survival rate of 56 percent.
AIDS Awareness Month is designated as a time to promote education about prevention, treatment and care with an emphasis on testing.
Free and confidential HIV testing is available at Decision Point in Springdale.
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