One in seven people living with HIV in the United States don’t know their status. Walgreens and the Greater Than AIDS campaign aim to change this by offering free HIV testing at Walgreens pharmacies in more than 260 cites on Thursday, June 27.
Why this day? Because it’s National HIV Testing Day (NHTD). According to a Walgreens press release, testing will be offered from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. (local time), June 27. What’s more, local health departments and HIV/AIDS service organizations will also participate at various sites, offering information about HIV as well as Truvada as PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis), the daily pill that prevents you from contracting HIV.
An HIV testing event with a local HIV organization at a Walgreens in ChicagoBusiness Wire/Walgreens
Local pharmacies might be an untapped resource to ending the epidemic. New research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that community-based pharmacists identify and address problems that their clients might have with HIV treatment.
In fact, the study found that patient-centered HIV care models led by community-based pharmacists improved viral suppression among clients by about 15% and that retention in care improved by nearly 13% overall, with an uptick of about 23% noted among non-Hispanic Black clients.
To locate a Walgreens near you that’s offering free HIV testing, click here. And if you can’t make it on June 27, you can find other options for getting tested or learning about PrEP throughout the year here.
Headed by Kaiser Family Foundation, the Greater Than AIDS campaign is a public HIV awareness effort involving the public and private sector, including the federal and local government, community groups and AIDS organizations. You can learn more at GreaterThan.org.
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