A significant medical advancement in the fight against HIV/AIDS is PrEP – short for pre-exposure prophylaxis. People at risk of getting HIV can take a daily pill to greatly reduce their risk of infection. The pills – under the brand name Truvada or Descovy – contain two medicines used in combination with other medicines to treat… Continue reading Is PrEP Right for You?
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What You Need to Know About a HIV Test
We provide free HIV testing at Palmetto Community Care, administering more than 100 tests each month. Our services are critical in the fight against HIV. Too many people (about 1 in 5) are living with HIV and don’t know it. That means they may very likely be unknowingly spreading the disease. About 50,000 people are… Continue reading What You Need to Know About a HIV Test
3 Reasons People Avoid a HIV Test
Why do people avoid HIV tests? People seek out the annual flu shot, women get annual mammograms, many more get cholesterol screenings and have their blood sugar checked. People think nothing of these routine health checks. So why not apply the same logic to getting a HIV test? The Centers for Disease Control estimates that… Continue reading 3 Reasons People Avoid a HIV Test
Could You Be At Risk for HIV?
Many people may not think they need an HIV test because they don’t believe they are at risk. They may think HIV affects only gay men or drug users, but the truth is anyone who is sexually active is at risk for HIV. HIV transmission occurs via bodily fluids, including blood, semen, pre-seminal fluid, rectal… Continue reading Could You Be At Risk for HIV?
Why We Focus on High-Risk Populations
If current trends continue, about 1 in 2 black men who have sex with men (MSM) in the United States will be diagnosed with HIV during their lifetime. That sobering statistic, from researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, illustrates risk factors are not equal. This statistic applies to South Carolina and Charleston… Continue reading Why We Focus on High-Risk Populations
Undetectable = Untransmittable.
CDC Supports the Science U equals U. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has taken note of what scientific research has confirmed over the last few years: when HIV-positive individuals take their medication and thus achieve undetectable levels of the virus, they are unlikely to spread HIV. For quite some time, many experts and… Continue reading Undetectable = Untransmittable.
HIV History Part 2
Difficult History That Shouldn’t Be Forgotten We’re taking time to look back at the early history of HIV/AIDS in America. Click HERE if you missed HIV History Part 1 1986 – SPREAD KNOWLEDGE, NOT PANIC By the end of 1986, there were 28,712 reported cases of HIV/AIDS and 24,559 AIDS-related deaths (an 86 percent death… Continue reading HIV History Part 2
HIV History Part 1
Difficult History Should Not be Forgotten We’re taking time to look back at the early history of HIV/AIDS in America. Spread Knowledge, Not Panic By the time the HIV/AIDS epidemic came to national consciousness in the 1980s, thousands of gay men were already infected and thousands more had already lost their lives. Let’s pause to… Continue reading HIV History Part 1
How to Help Fight HIV/AIDS in the South
For the last few years we’ve been watching with alarm the rising rates of HIV infections here in the South. Back in the 1980s, AIDS was an urban issue, impacting places like New York City and Los Angeles. Today, the epicenter of the HIV epidemic has shifted to the South, including South Carolina and the greater… Continue reading How to Help Fight HIV/AIDS in the South