American President Barack Obama released a YouTube statement yesterday, asking Americans to get themselves tested for HIV.  June 27th was the 14th annual National HIV Testing Day, launched in 1995 by the National Association of People With AIDS, an American NGO that was among the first to promote widespread testing.

It is estimated that one in five Americans, 250 000 people, living with the virus that causes AIDS, has not been tested.  

The President’s YouTube address opens with video from an HIV testing drive he attended in Kenya in 2006, while a US Senator, where he and his wife were both tested for the virus.  ”My wife and I are going to get tested for HIV/AIDS,” he told the crowd, “Because if you know your status, then you can prevent illness, you can prevent passing it to your children and to your families, and we can make everybody have happier, healthier lives.”

President Obama’s words echo PIUMA’s creed, Test and Live with Hope, and the work PIUMA has done in the past four years to promote HIV-testing and education in Bulongwa and its surrounding villages.  PIUMA’s mobile testing campaigns have attracted hundreds of people to get tested and have allowed many to live better lives by providing support and information to those who are infected.

The President’s message from the White House yesterday was clear.  ”HIV/AIDS makes no distinction and knows no borders,” he said. “Get tested.  By knowing your HIV status, you can take control - not only of your own health, but the health of those around you.”

Gabe Maldoff

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 28th, 2009 at 3:40 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.