June 27 Marks National HIV Testing Day

National HIV Testing Day is June 27, and metro Atlanta clinics, pharmacies and mobille units will host community events that offer free HIV tests.

This year marks the 18th year for National HIV Testing Day.

Walgreens, which conducted at selection location in the nation, will again be offering tests June 27-29. They are partnering with Greater Than AIDS to offer free, rapid in-store screening.

In honor of the day, The Ric Crawford Clinic, formerly AID Gwinnett also will offer free, rapid testing June 27- 28 at its Duluth location. For more places to get tested this week, and throughout the year, click here and enter your ZIP code.

Across the nation some 1.2 million people are living with HIV today, and one in five (or a quarter of a million) people do not know that they are infected, according to the Greater Than AIDS website. Therefore, free testing days become imperative for those fighting to increase knowledge of infectious disease.

In Georgia, there were 1,294 persons newly diagnosed with HIV (not AIDS) in Georgia during 2010, according to most recent information from state health officials.

Those most frequently infected were ages 30 to 39 at the time of their diagnosis, according to the 2010 Georgia HIV/AIDS Surveillance Summary. The data also indicated that the majority of people not getting testing in Georgia are males.

For more information on HIV or AIDS in Georgia click here.

Testing today includes:

• Ric Crawford Clinic, 9 a.m. - 7 p.m., 3075 Breckinridge Boulevard, Suite 415, Duluth
• STAND Inc.; 8 a.m. - 8 p.m; 4319 Covington Highway, Suite 117A, Decatur
• DeKalb County Service Board, 8 a.m. - 4 p.m., 455 Winn Way

For a list of Atlanta area locations plus contact information, click here, or enter your ZIP code here for other areas around you.