CHARLESTON, W.Va. — More people are living with HIV than ever. With screenings, proper care and medications, people can live long, healthy lives.
National HIV Testing Day, June 27 is set aside to encourage people to get tested for HIV, know their status, and get linked to care and treatment.
The CAMC Ryan White Program will be promoting awareness and providing rapid fingerstick testing for HIV, Hepatitis C and syphilis with education and linkage to follow-up labs and care. They will be at the following Walgreens locations
June 27 from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.:
- West Side of Charleston, 655 Washington St. West – testing will be inside of store
- East End of Charleston, 1301 Washington St. East – testing will be in CAMC’s Mobile Community Outreach Unit
- Elkview, Elk Plaza – testing will be in CAMC’s Mobile Medical Unit
No appointment needed. Counselors also will answer questions about HIV and STDs and provide the latest on prevention and treatment options, including referrals for PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis), FDA-approved medications that are highly effective in preventing HIV and other needed care.
“Our program and staff strive to help at risk individuals overcome personal barriers in order to receive and stay in care,” said Christine Teague, PharmD, Program Director, CAMC Ryan White Program since 2002. “We want to reach people who need care, where they are.”
Over 600 people are enrolled in CAMC’s Ryan White Program which covers 19 counties in southern West Virginia.
The CAMC Ryan White Program is a national program that was implemented and developed in 1995 after Ryan White passed away. Ryan White was a hemophiliac who contracted HIV through a blood transfusion back in the mid-1980s. He was 11 years old at the time. The federal government enacted the Ryan White Care Act in his honor, and CAMC received their first federal RW grant award in 2002.
