Harlem United Trains Clergy as Testers Kick-Off Event
On June 22nd, Veronica Webb, TV-personality, model and journalist and the Reverend Terrance L. Kennedy, founder and pastor of New Hope for the World Ministries, announced the partnership between Harlem United and New Hope to train clergy members as HIV Testers. Over 100 people attended the event at the Baptist Prayer House.
Veronica Webb with Reverend Kennedy and Hector Quinones, Harlem United’s Director of Counseling Testing and Referrals-Linkage to Care Services
(photo courtesy of Jasmin K. Williams)
Baptist House of Prayer
Deborah Levine, VP of Community Development NBLCA
Pastor Henry V. Harrison, Baptist House of Prayer
Veronica Webb with several members of the New Hope for the World Ministries and Jerrel R. Burney, Legislative Liaison for Councilwoman Inez Dickens [far left]
- Photos courtesy of Steven Duarte
National HIV Testing Day
June 27, 2010 marks the 17th annual commemoration of National HIV Testing Day (NHTD) established by the National Association of People with AIDS (NAPWA) in 1996. Each year, those living with and concerned about HIV in the United States urge their friends, loved ones, and communities to “Take the Test. Take Control.” According to the Centers for Disease Control approximately one-quarter (or 280,000 to 350,000) of the more than 1.1 million people living with HIV/AIDS in the United States aren’t aware that they have HIV. These individuals unknowingly drive more than half of the estimated 56,000 new cases of HIV that are diagnosed each year.
Around 40% individuals that are diagnosed with HIV each year progress to an AIDS diagnosis within one year; approximately 5% of them will die within one month. “The evidence is clear. Routine HIV screening in clinical settings helps to avert new HIV infections and saves lives,” says Patrick McGovern, President & CEO of Harlem United Community AIDS Center, Inc. “New York State is currently working to remove longstanding barriers faced by individuals who want to know their status. Everyone should receive an HIV test regardless of their ability to pay for it or whether their health care provider believes they are at risk.”
Less than one year ago, Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced an expansion of Medicare preventive coverage for HIV screening for beneficiaries who are at increased risk, including women who are pregnant and Medicare beneficiaries of any age who voluntarily request the service. This decision was supported by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) which scored subjective risk based testing as an “A”; the Secretary has discretion to expand access to any preventive services with a USPSTF score of “A” or “B”. The USPSTF maintains that the evidence is insufficient to support coverage of routine HIV screening. The CDC asserts that HIV testing should be routinely offered in clinical settings on an opt-out basis to all persons ages 13 – 64. Both the USPSTF and the CDC are under the auspices of the Department of Health and Human Services.
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Congressman Joe Crowley, and Congresswoman Maxine Waters each have legislation that will expand access to and reimbursement for routine HIV screening. Community advocates continue to urge legislators to co-sponsor the bills and move them forward, but little progress has been made to date. Early access to routine screening is highly associated with improved opportunities for improved health outcomes and reduced health disparities and HIV transmission for newly identified HIV-positive individuals. In commemoration of National HIV Testing Day, Harlem United is releasing its’ updated white paper (HIV Testing Policy) urging greater access to routine HIV screening in clinical settings for all persons between the ages of 13 and 64 and targeted HIV testing to populations at greatest risk.
Harlem United, founded in 1998, provides a full range of medical, social, and supportive services to predominantly African-American and Latino individuals living with HIV/AIDS, whose diagnoses are often complicated by addiction, mental illness, and homelessness. Harlem United’s prevention program employs a bifurcated strategy to educate the Harlem community about their HIV status. One track targets HIV testing to populations that are disproportionately at-risk for HIV, while a second track offers HIV screening and other preventive services block by block to persons who may be at risk but don’t know it.
