EFN

Mayor Adrian M. Fenty announced on Friday, August 28, 2009 that the District is launching a marketing campaign to promote HIV/AIDS testing through advertising on television, radio, billboards and Metro trains and buses. Fenty, who has called HIV/AIDS the city’s “greatest public health challenge,” said the city needs to “speak with a louder voice” about the epidemic, and that “everybody is at risk.”

The ads featuring D.C. residents holding signs that read, “Ask for the Test” are already being aired on local television. The campaign, “D.C. Takes on HIV,” which also includes a Website, http://www.dctakesonhiv.com, is the $225,000 first phase of a five year effort.

According to a report released by D.C. health officials earlier this year, the District has the highest HIV/AIDS prevalence rate of any major city in the United States. At least 3% of the city’s residents are living with HIV and AIDS. The rate of transmission is increasing on every level. All residents are being encouraged to ask for an HIV test when they see a doctor. “Hopefully within a short period of time, people are going to understand that they’re not going to go to the doctor without asking for an HIV test,” said Mayor Fenty.