South Carolina: Clemson to Offer Free AIDS Test

Clemson University students and employees can take advantage of free HIV screening on World AIDS Day, Dec. 1, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Redfern Health Center.

Also that day, the school will host an HIV/AIDS ceremony and candlelight vigil at 6 p.m. at the Hendrix Student Center Ballroom B. The event is open to the public and will include a speaker from the South Carolina HIV/AIDS Council's P.O.S.I.T.I.V.E. VOICES program, which works to reduce disease-related stigma and barriers to testing and treatment.

Junior Naima Clark, chair of World AIDS Day events organized by her sorority, Delta Sigma Theta Inc., has been involved in community-based HIV screenings since she was in middle school. Over the years, she has heard lots of stories from people who were HIV-positive or lost someone to AIDS. "It really spoke to my heart," said Clark, who is studying to become a nurse. Redfern and Clemson's Student Health Advisory Committee also are sponsoring the events.

At last year's World AIDS Day screening, more than 200 people were tested and none came back positive, said Parvin Lewis, director of health promotion at Redfern.

Back to other news for November 2011