Free testing offered as county’s health department observes National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day

SHELBY COUNTY, Tenn. – Free HIV testing will be available Wednesday in Shelby County.

The county’s health department is hosting a free walk-in HIV testing event from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at its office at 814 Jefferson Avenue. It will take place in Room 102.

The event is in observance of National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day on Feb. 7, 2024 but county health officials said that the service is always available at no cost.

In a news release, the Shelby County Health Department (SCHD) noted that HIV “disproportionately” affects African-Americans, particularly in the Mid-South, citing data that shows 85% of the Black population in the region were diagnosed with HIV in 2021.

The department said that the Memphis region has the second highest HIV infection rate in the U.S., second only to Miami.

While men who have sex with other men have the greatest risk to the virus, women in the Mid-South account for about 21% of newly diagnosed HIV cases in the region, SCHD said.

Black women have an HIV incidence rate 15% higher than white women, county health officials said.

“Testing and early viral suppression treatment is the key to reducing HIV infections,” Dr. Michelle Taylor, the SCHD’s Director-Health Officer, said in a statement. “… We use health observances like National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day to bring attention to this service that is always free and available to everyone in our community.”

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