AIDS Epidemic in Washington D.C.
■HIV-AIDS has reached an epidemic rate of infection in Washington, D.C., with 3 percent of D.C. residents older than 12 living with HIV or AIDS.
■Approximately 16,513 D.C. residents in 2008 were aware that they had HIV or AIDS through testing—a 9 percent increase from 2007.
■Earlier this year the D.C. government partnered with the National Institutes of Health to launch a $26.4 million initiative to expand testing and treatment of HIV-AIDS, which will hopefully decrease D.C. residents’ chances of acquiring and spreading the disease.
■Washington, D.C. is also the first city in the nation to provide free HIV testing at the DMV, with an added bonus of participants receiving $15 to defray some of their DMV cost just for getting tested.
■Approximately 16,513 D.C. residents in 2008 were aware that they had HIV or AIDS through testing—a 9 percent increase from 2007.
■Earlier this year the D.C. government partnered with the National Institutes of Health to launch a $26.4 million initiative to expand testing and treatment of HIV-AIDS, which will hopefully decrease D.C. residents’ chances of acquiring and spreading the disease.
■Washington, D.C. is also the first city in the nation to provide free HIV testing at the DMV, with an added bonus of participants receiving $15 to defray some of their DMV cost just for getting tested.