Stillman College News December 2, 2010 Stillman Observes World HIV/AIDS Day with Free Testing Stillman faculty, staff and students donned the color red in observance of World HIV/AIDS Day. “I encouraged students to wear something red as a reminder that HIV/AIDS is still a major health concern in the African-American community,” said Jacqueline Currie, Director of the Student Development Center at Stillman. Students, administration, faculty and staff were offered free blood testing from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. in the Hay College Center. The CDC recommends routine HIV/AIDS testing and says that everyone should be tested. On their website, www.cdc.gov, states and community leaders are encouraged to “promote evidence-based policies and develop programs to prevent HIV from spreading.” Stillman alum, Maxine Neal, serves as HIV Outreach Coordinator for Maude Whatley and administered the testing. “We use the OraQuick Advance mouth swab test to deliver people fast and accurate results,” said Neal. She continued, “The results are available in 20-30 minutes and are 99.9 percent effective.” Neal said, “We get funding for this program through Ryan White Title III. It is critical to our being able to serve the community in this capacity. There are more cases of infection in the south than any other region. Twenty-four to forty-four-year old females have the highest HIV/Aids rates, followed by thirteen to twenty-four-year olds and then the fifty/+ year crowd.” “Maude Whatley is a community health center and is very involved with HIV/AIDS prevention. They perform the testing. We have had a long relationship with them. In fact, Ms. Neal comes every month to administer the free testing here on our campus. Stillman students are serious about their health and many take advantage of the free screening,” said Currie. A Stillman student who attended the event, Carissa Eiland, said, “Knowing is beautiful, regardless of the results.” According to international HIV & AIDS Charity, Avert, “started on 1st December 1988, World AIDS Day is about raising money, increasing awareness, fighting prejudice and improving education. The World AIDS Day theme for 2010 is 'Universal Access and Human Rights'. World AIDS Day is important for reminding people that HIV has not gone away, and that there are many things still to be done.” For more information regarding monthly testing dates at Stillman, contact Ms. Jacqueline Currie at jcurrie@stillman.edu or 366-8894. Additional information regarding HIV/AIDS can be found by calling the Alabama HIV/AIDS Hotline at 1-800-228-0469 or by contacting the CDC National STD and AIDS Hotline at 1-800-342-2437. SANDRA M. PHOENIX Program Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> 404.592.4820 1438 West Peachtree Street NW Suite 200 Atlanta, GA 30309 Toll Free: 1.800.999.8558 (Lyrasis) Fax: 404.892.7879 www.lyrasis.org<http://www.lyrasis.org/> Honor the ancestors, honor the children.