The Miami-Dade County Department of Health (MDCDH) on Thursday launched "Test Miami," a large-scale campaign aimed at making HIV testing a routine part of medical care. The effort targets physicians, at-risk communities, and pregnant women.
"A major emphasis of the campaign is to train and educate physicians, particularly in hospitals and other medical facilities," Evelyn Ullah, director of MDCDH's Office of HIV and AIDS.
Four South Florida-based physicians - Drs. Nelson Adams, Margaret Fischi, Pedro Greer, and Gwendolyn Scott - will appear in ads and speak at forums over the next year. The idea is get more doctors to feel comfortable talking to their patients about HIV and recommending testing, said Scott, director of the University of Miami's Division of Infectious Disease and Immunology.
"If your doctor doesn't ask you to take the test, you should ask why," said Dr. Jeffrey Beal, clinical director of the University of South Florida.
An estimated one in five of the 125,000 people with HIV in Florida is unaware of their infection. Miami-Dade County ranked first in the state in the number of HIV/AIDS cases through 2008, with 32,141 cumulative cases, MDCDH data show.
Test Miami is a partnership of the University of Miami, Florida International University, Nova Southeastern University, and Emory University. The campaign's honorary chairperson is UM President Donna Shalala.
06/26/09
FLORIDA: Miami-Dade Launches Broad-Based HIV Test Campaign
Source: Miami Herald:: Susana Montes-Delgado; Courtesy of the CDC National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention