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TEXAS HIV/STD E-UPDATE
Information from the Bureau of HIV and STD Prevention,
Texas Department of Health
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IN THIS ISSUE:
-National HIV Testing Day Events in Texas
-Upcoming Events

NATIONAL HIV TESTING DAY EVENTS IN TEXAS

The following is a list of National HIV Testing Day-related events taking
place around Texas. The Bureau of HIV and STD Prevention wishes to thank
all of the organizations that sent event information to the E-Update. Please
note that this list is presented for informational purposes only; the Texas
Department of Health does not necessarily sponsor or endorse any of the
events and/or activities listed.

BEAUMONT/PORT ARTHUR
P.A.L.M. Center and Triangle AIDS Network will do HIV testing and education
for National HIV Testing Day on Monday, June 28 from 10am-2pm at the Gulf
Coast Medical Center, 2548 Memorial Blvd., in Port Arthur. For more
information, please contact Monica Spittler at 409-832-0710.

BRYAN
AIDS Services of Brazos Valley will be doing testing on Martin Luther King
Blvd. in Bryan on Saturday, June 26 from 10am to 3pm at an area snow cone
stand. For more information, please contact Marla McClure at
mmclure@....

CORPUS CHRISTI
The Coastal Bend AIDS Foundation's Project C.A.R.E. will conduct HIV
counseling and testing on Sunday, June 27 from 11am to 4pm and on Monday,
June 28 from 9am to 4:30pm in the corner lot at Sam Rankin and Frank Sts. on
the Northside of Corpus Christi. The goal of the event is to increase the
number of Northside community members testing for the first time and to
encourage people at risk of HIV infection who are substance abusers, and/or
trade sex for drugs or money to receive voluntary HIV counseling and
testing. For more informatiion, please contact Jose Trejo at joet@....

DALLAS
Resource Center of Dallas will offer free HIV testing on Friday, June 25
from 7-9pm at 4012 Cedar Springs Rd. This evening testing event is designed
for those who cannot make normal testing times. For more information, please
contact Gil Flores at 214-540-4425.

On Sunday, June 27, the HIV/SIDA Coalition of Greater Dallas will conduct
outreach and free HIV testing in the North Oak Cliff area from 10am to 2pm.
AIDS Arms, Inc., located at 219 Sunset Av., Ste. 116-A, will be the host
site for this event, which targets the Latino population. The goal of the
event is to create community awareness and to increase the number of first
time testers. Those testing will have access to their test results at AIDS
Arms, Inc. approximately two weeks after the event. The coalition will also
offer free HIV testing in West Dallas from 2-6pm on Friday, June 25, 2004.
The location for this event is The Call Studio, located at 4748 Algiers St.,
Ste. 400. This event targets the Latino population living in West Dallas as
well as local actors and media personnel. Please contact Fernie Sanchez at
214-521-5191 for further information about these two events.

EAGLE PASS
United Medical Centers will offer HIV testing on Sunday, June 27 from 1-5pm
at 474 N. Adams St. The goal of this event is to increase the number of
high-risk first-time testers. Contact Mari Munoz at umchcsep@....

GALVESTON
Galveston County Health District will offer HIV testing all day on Friday,
June 25 and Saturday, June 26 in the Wal-Mart parking lot located at 6702
Seawall Blvd. The goal of this event is to increase the number of first time
testers, particularly among adolescents and African Americans. For more
information, please contact Jim Hilton at jhilton@....

HOUSTON
Montrose Clinic will be hosting a testing event on Monday, June 28 from 9am
to 7pm at their clinic located at 215 Westheimer. With a generous donation
from Abbott Laboratories, the clinic will be offering free OraQuick rapid
HIV antibody testing with results available in 20 minutes to
the first 100 clients. The event will be targeted to all persons who have a
high-risk of contracting HIV with a particular emphasis on gay, bisexual,
and other men who have sex with men, as well as transgender individuals. For
more information, contact Sonna Alton at salton@..., or
713-830-3000.

In a related event, Montrose Clinic will host "Tweaked: A Community Forum on
Crystal Methamphetamine and Its Link to HIV/STDs" on Thursday, June 24 from
6-9pm at 1415 California. This community forum aims to raise awareness of
the increased link between HIV/STD transmission and the use of crystal
methamphetamine among gay and bisexual men in Houston. The clinic hopes to
spread the word of this dangerous party drug to community leaders, health
care and substance abuse providers, health department officials, and the
general public. Guest speakers will be announced at a later date. For more
information, contact Sonna Alton at salton@..., or
713-830-3000. This community forum is an official event of Houston's Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Pride week (www.houstonpride.org).

Planned Parenthood of Houston and Southeast Texas (PPHSET) plans multiple
testing events during the week prior to June 27th. Free rapid HIV testing
will be offered on Monday, June 21st at the Stafford Clinic, 3727
Greenbriar, Ste. 118 in Stafford; on Wednesday at the Greenspoint Clinic,
11834 Airline Dr. in Houston; and on Friday, June 25th at the Fannin Clinic,
3601 Fannin in Houston. The Box, FM 97.9, will air spots promoting testing
for all locations during the week and will broadcast from the Fannin Clinic
for their morning show on Friday. Refreshments will be served, prizes given
for those winning our educational games, and those staying for their test
results will receive a bag with various goodies. PPHSET hopes to test
primarily African-Americans who have not previously tested or who have not
tested in some time. Everyone is welcome. PPHSET thanks the Schrader Clinic
for their generous support of these events. For more information, please
contact Susan Rokes at 713-831-6509.

The State of Emergency Task Force (SOETF), chaired by Houston City Council
Member Ada Edwards, will host National HIV Testing Day events on Friday,
June 25, 2004 from 12-4pm. The testing site locations for the testing site
include: NAACP Technology Center at 4200 Fannin, Fennigan Park at 4900
Providence, Magic Johnson Theatre at 113 Northline Mall, and the Power
Center at 12401 S. Post Oak Rd. These testing events are designed to reach
African American men and women ages 18-45. For more information, please
contact Hyron Hall at 713-794-9169.

KERRVILLE
The TDH Region 8 Sub-Office in Kerrville will conduct free HIV testing on
Sunday, June 27 from 1-4pm at the Raphael Free Clinic, 1807 Water St. For
more informaton, please contact Sherry Hayes, RN, at
sherry.hayes@....

LAREDO
The City of Laredo Health Department will hold a "24 Hour HIV Testing
Marathon" from Sunday, June 27 at 8am through Monday, June 28 at 8am at 2600
Cedar St. The goals of the event are to increase self-perception of risk,
assist clients with risk reduction steps, increase the level of HIV
awareness, and increase the number of high risk testers. The target
audiences for this event are men who have sex with men and injecting drug
users. For more information, please contact Manuel Sanchez at
msanchez@....

LONGVIEW
Special Health Resources for Texas, Inc., headquartered at 2020 Bill Owens
Pkwy., Ste. 230, in Longview, and the prevention office located at 2030
South High St., will observe National HIV Testing Day on June 24, 2004 by
providing a Health Awareness Event at Broughton Recreation Center in
Longview. HIV rapid tests, popcorn, snowballs, balloons, finger face
painting for children, door prizes, games, and other testing provided by
other health organizations will be available free of charge. For more
information, please contact Gloria Hawkins at 903-234-0936, 1-877-234-0936,
or www.shrt.net.

LUFKIN
Health Horizons will be set up at Jones Park in Lufkin, located on Kurth
Drive, on June 26 from 1-6pm in recognition of National HIV Testing Day. A
health fair for African American females of childbearing age will take
place, and incentives will be given for those individuals that test and go
through education. In addition, the agency will be out in the communities
the whole week working flexible hours offering HIV testing and education
leading up to this day. Our goal is to increase the number of testers in our
targeted audience which is African American men who have sex with men, women
who have sex with men, and injecting drug users. For additional information,
you may contact Beverly Chatman at 936-569-8240 ext. 21.

MC ALLEN
The Planned Parenthood Association of Hidalgo County will conduct HIV
testing on Saturday, June 26 from 9am-12pm at the Mary Dansby English
Center, 916 E. Hackberry. The goal is to test a minimum of 50 people, at
least half of whom are first-time testers. Please contact Martha Leos at
956-618-3718 for more information.

SAN ANTONIO
The San Antonio Prevention Collaborative for National Events - a coalition
that includes the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District, BEAT AIDS, Hope
Action Care, Project Safe, Mujeres Unidas, and other HIV-related
organizations in the San Antonio area - will observe National HIV Testing
Day with events on on Thursday, June 24 and Friday, June 25. On June 24
from 2-7pm, HIV and syphilis counseling and testing will be offered in the
parking lot of the Saint, located at 1430 N. Main. Later that evening, the
Saint will host the "Mr./Miss/Mrs. Play-Safe" pageant. On June 25 from
4-7pm, HIV and syphilis counseling and testing will be offered at Skinney's,
located on the east side at the corner of Ferris Ave. and Bellinger, and the
Mix, located at 2423 St. Mary's St. For more information, please contact
George Perez at 210-207-2437.

The San Antonio AIDS Foundation will be offering three days of HIV testing.
Participants will have the choice of taking either the OraQuick 20-minute
test or the standard test if they prefer. All testing is free. Testing will
take place Thursday, June 24 from 8am to 8pm, Friday, June 25 from 8am to
5pm, and Sunday, June 27 from 1-5pm at the San Antonio AIDS Foundation
offices at 818 E. Grayson St. The goal is to reach all people from high
risk populations who have not previously tested. All populations are
targeted with a special emphasis on young adults and females. Please call
Cathy Novak at 210-225-4715 for more information.

Hope Action Care will be conducting HIV testing on Friday, June 25 from
10am-3pm at the Stewart Center, 1711 Guadalupe, and at BE WISE, 913 N. New
Braunfels. The goal is to test the Hispanic injecting drug user (IDU)
population on the West side (Stewart Center) and to test the African
American IDU popuation on the East side (BE WISE). For more information,
please contact Debbie Heil at 210-212-4235.


UPCOMING EVENTS

June 27, 2004
National HIV Testing Day. Sponsored by the National Association of People
with AIDS (NAPWA). For more information, go to www.napwa.org/hivtestinfo/.

July 23, 2004
Deadline for 14th Texas HIV/STD Conference call for presentations and
scholarship applications.

July 31, 2004
HIV, the Future and Your Choices: Hepatitis C (HCV) and HIV Co-Infection,
Houston. Sponsored by the National AIDS Treatment Advocacy Project (NATAP).
To register, call NATAP at 212-219-0106 between 9am-5pm, Monday through
Friday.

August 9-13, 2004
Training Institute in Sexual Health Education (TISHE), Blairstown, NJ.
Sponsored by the Network for Family Life Education at Rutgers University.
For more information, go to www.tishe.org, or contact Nora Gelperin at
norag@..., or 732-445-7929.

November 11-14, 2004
5th Annual National Harm Reduction Conference, New Orleans, LA. Sponsored by
the Harm Reduction Coalition. Go to
www.harmreduction.org/conf2004/index.html, or call 212-213-6376, ext. 15 for
more information.

December 1, 2004
World AIDS Day

December 13-17, 2004
14th Texas HIV/STD Conference, Austin. Sponsored by TDH. A separate clinical
update will be held on December 17-18, 2004 for an additional fee. For more
information, visit www.tdh.state.tx.us/hivstd/conf/2004/default.htm.


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Back issues of the Texas HIV/STD E-Update going back to 2002 are available
online at the following URL:
www.tdh.state.tx.us/hivstd/pie/e-update/default.htm
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TDH Electronic Publication Number E13-11720
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Texas HIV/STD E-Update
Greg Beets, Editor
Texas Department of Health
HIV/STD Comprehensive Preventive Services Division
1100 West 49th Street
Austin, Texas 78756-3199
Phone: 512-490-2500, ext. 2671
Fax: 512-490-2538
E-mail: greg.beets@...