Free and confidential HIV testing, support and education will be offered at East Orange City Hall on Friday, Dec. 1.
The screening is being done in conjunction with World Aids Day by the City of East Orange, RWJBarnabas Health and the Essex County Mobile Health Clinic from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Registration is not required and all are welcome.
“While we have made momentous progress as a global community in our fight against HIV/AIDS, in 2022 one person died each minute of the year due to an AIDS-related illness. The first step to ending this epidemic is knowing your status,” said Patrick Koslecki, director of diversity, equity and inclusion at Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center, an RWJBarnabas Health facility. “On World AIDS Day, we must recommit to providing care, compassion, education, and resources to our community, while vocalizing the end goal will always be a world without HIV/AIDS and a commitment to finding a cure.”
The event will feature education and support from several community partners including Hyacinth Foundation, East Orange Department of Health and Human Services, Essex County’s Office of LGBTQ+ Affairs and Office of Public Health Management, Out Montclair, Nutley Pride, Garden State Equality, and Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan New Jersey.
“The staff of our Department of Health and Human Services has done a tremendous job of raising HIV/AIDS awareness and providing critical services to those afflicted with the illness in our community and beyond for more than 25 years,” said East Orange Mayor Ted R. Green. “Compassion, care, confidentiality and respect are core principles we practice as we strive to eradicate this epidemic that has disproportionately impacted marginalized populations across the globe. We are proud to partner with RWJBarnabas Health, Essex County and TD Bank to maximize our outreach and equalize access to testing, education, resources and treatment.”
In attendance from RWJBarnabas Health will be staff from the Babs Siperstein PROUD Center at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset, Family Treatment Center at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center and members of the PROUD and Black Professionals Network Business Resource Groups. Founded in 1988 as the world’s first ever global health day, World AIDS Day is commemorated on Dec. 1 each year. In the United States there are approximately 1.2 million people living with HIV and about 13% of those people don’t know they are positive and require testing and treatment.
In addition, World AIDS Day allows for an opportunity to break the stigma around HIV diagnosis. HIV is no longer a death sentence; there are medications that can slow HIV progression and allow people who test positive to live long and healthy lives. Through medication, once the viral load is suppressed, a person who tests positive can no longer pass on the virus.
City Hall is located at 44 City Hall Plaza.
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