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Fresno march to promote testing for HIV: Saturday events aimed at young adults in the county.
Jun 26, 2009 (The Fresno Bee - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
Fresno youths and church and community leaders will march to City Hall Saturday morning to help raise awareness about AIDS on National HIV Testing Day.
Fresno County is seeing an increase in HIV-positive rates among adults between ages 20 and 24, said Jena Adams, a communicable-disease specialist with the Fresno County Department of Public Health.
Of recorded HIV cases in Fresno County, 7% are of people between ages 13 to 19 and 35% are people between ages 20 and 29, according to county statistics.
The county had 1,692 AIDS cases through May 31. Of those, 875 people have died.
The march is to help raise awareness of the need for testing, especially among youths, said Paul Copeland, president and founder of Helping Our Own Destiny, a youth enrichment program.
"We're really finding out our kids are actively involved sexually, but not getting tested and not using protection properly," Copeland said.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends everyone between the ages of 13 and 64 be tested for HIV as a part of routine medical care. HIV is the virus that cause AIDS.
"It's especially important for young adults who have engaged in behaviors that could have placed them at risk for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases to be tested," Adams said.
Marchers will meet at Kearney Palms Shopping Center at Fresno and C streets at 7:30 a.m. A rally outside City Hall will begin about 9 a.m.
Fresno County will offer free HIV testing from its mobile testing van from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Results of the tests will be available in 30 minutes. Testing is confidential.
The reporter can be reached at banderson@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6310.
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