Pennsylvania: AIDS Group Urges Philadelphia to "Get Tested; Get Treated"

Philadelphia-based Field Initiatives for Group HIV Trials (FIGHT) has provided treatment, care, and education for HIV/AIDS patients for 15 years. It operates one of the city's largest clinical practices at the Jonathan Lax Treatment Center, providing case management, drug research, and alternative therapies. FIGHT also offers information at outreach sites across the city and through its project TEACH (Treatment Education Advocates Combating HIV), a nine-week class for newly diagnosed clients. As many as 30,000 people in the Philadelphia area have HIV/AIDS.

Because June is AIDS Awareness Month, FIGHT, in collaboration with dozens of other local organizations, is presenting programs on this year's theme of "Get Tested; Get Treated." Last year, according to FIGHT Executive Director Jane Shull, nearly 2,000 people were reached during AIDS Awareness Month and 70 were tested. FIGHT hopes to increase those numbers and will participate in National HIV Testing Day, June 27.

Shull said people often avoided testing because it was too expensive and results took too long. "Now the test is affordable and the results are available in 20 minutes," she said. Shull hopes the events will not only prevent people from becoming infected, but also find people with HIV and get them into treatment.

For information about FIGHT, telephone 215-985-4448 or go to www.fight.org.

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