The Coastal Health District HIV Prevention Program will hold free HIV testing events at  several locations throughout the month of February in observance of National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NBHAAD).

HIV testing in Hinesville will be Monday, Feb. 10 from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Georgia Southern University Liberty Campus. 

A testing event in Richmond Hill will be held on Friday, Feb. 7 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Although the events are held to bring awareness to HIV/AIDS education, testing, and treatment among black communities, these testing events — and all HIV testing events offered in the Coastal Health District — are open to the public.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, blacks/African Americans accounted for 43 percent of all HIV diagnoses in the United States in 2017. Currently, there are around 1.2 million people in the United States living with HIV, and one in eight people don’t know they have it. HIV testing is always free at all health departments in Bryan, Camden, Chatham, Effingham, Glynn, Liberty, Long, and McIntosh.