California: San Mateo County Leaders Promote Importance of HIV Testing

Representatives from county and local governments, faith-based groups, and community organizations met recently ahead of National HIV Testing Day to boost awareness of the June 27 event.

"All of us at a community level can respond to this epidemic by getting tested, knowing your status, and getting treatment," said Darryl Lampkin, HIV counseling and testing coordinator for San Mateo County, which organized the meeting.

The need to test is especially great among area African Americans, said Lampkin. In San Mateo County, blacks comprise 3.5 percent of the population but 17.4 percent of HIV cases, he said.

African Americans account for 23 percent of East Palo Alto's population but a "staggering" 62.5 percent of its HIV cases, said Mayor David Woods. "For me, those numbers have faces," said Woods. "If you're married, you owe it to your spouse to get tested. If you have children, you owe it to them, and most of all you owe it to yourself." Woods was among those who publicly took an HIV test at the meeting.

"Ultimately, this needs to be a message of personal responsibility," Menlo Park Mayor Heyward Robinson told the crowd.

San Mateo County's Health System has two mobile testing vans that can be requested at any location to provide confidential and anonymous HIV, hepatitis C, and syphilis screenings. For more information about this service, telephone 650-619-9125.

In addition, the county is offering free HIV testing on Wednesday, 3-7 p.m. at the Martin Luther King Community Center, 725 Monte Diablo Ave., San Mateo, and Friday, 3-7 p.m. at the War Memorial Community Center, 6655 Mission St., Daly City.

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