Baltimore Seminar Educates Seniors on HIV/STD Awareness

Baltimore health department staff and local health care providers partnered to share information about HIV and STDs with older adults at the Waxter Senior Center. The goal of the seminar was to encourage seniors to be aware of HIV and STDs in their community and to be tested.

Approximately 45 percent of HIV-infected people in Baltimore are more than 50 years old, according to Dr. Patrick Chaulk, Baltimore’s assistant commissioner for HIV and STD services. Chaulk advised seniors to "watch their sexual habits" to protect themselves from HIV and STDs. The Baltimore Health Department provided more than 46,000 free HIV tests in 2012. Chaulk said seniors could obtain an HIV test kit at most pharmacies and perform the test privately at home.

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