World AIDS Day event set for Monday at Statehouse

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A daylong event commemorating World AIDS Day will take place at the S.C. Statehouse on Monday.

The event, slated for 8 a.m. until 8 p.m., will include information booths and a storytelling event featuring S.C. residents who have been affected by HIV.

As of Dec. 31, 2017, nearly 20,000 S.C. residents are living with diagnosed HIV infection, including AIDs, according to the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control. Between 2016 and 2017, an estimated 1,500 people were diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in the state, DHEC said.

On Tuesday, DHEC is sponsoring no-cost testing for HIV, sexually transmitted diseases and hepatitis C at health care offices throughout the state.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates about 1.1 million people nationally have HIV, and 1 in 7 don’t know they have it.

For more information, call 1-555-472-3432 or visit www.scdhec.gov/World-AIDS-Day.

“Early detection through testing remains essential to successfully identifying and treating the disease, and helping to end the epidemic,” Ali Mansaray, director of DHEC’s STD, HIV and viral hepatitis division, said. “It’s critical that people get tested and know their diagnosis so those who have HIV can get treatment as soon as possible.”

In July, DHEC entered a multi-agency partnership aimed at reducing HIV infections in North and South Carolina.