Shelby County Health Providers to Offer Rapid HIV Test

The Tennessee Department of Health has awarded Shelby County health providers a total of $300,000 in funding to provide free rapid result HIV testing. Testing will be offered as part of routine treatment for select age groups ranging from teenagers through adulthood at participating organizations unless patients choose not to take part.

“It is so important that people in Tennessee and elsewhere know their HIV status, and we are pleased to support this effort to provide rapid HIV testing in the Memphis area,” said Susan R. Cooper, MSN, RN, Commissioner of Health.

Shelby County grant recipients include the LeBonheur Children’s Hospital emergency department, Memphis/Shelby County Health Department and New Direction, Inc., a substance abuse treatment facility.  The Community HIV Network will be providing testing and support in local community-based settings.

“Our goals are to make HIV testing a routine part of medical care, and to increase the numbers of people who know their HIV status so they can begin treatment if needed,” said Jeanece Seals, director of HIV/AIDS programs for the State Department of Health. “Many Tennesseans are infected with this virus and don’t know it. This testing program will reach people with potentially life-saving information, as well as some who do not consider themselves at risk for HIV.”

Patients will be informed about the HIV test as part of standard treatment at participating providers, and may mark a box on their paperwork if they do not want to be tested. The HIV test is administered by an oral swab, and results are available in 20 minutes. Patients who test positive for HIV will be referred for follow-up treatment.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend such testing to detect HIV infection in earlier stages and get more patients into treatment for the virus. The CDC estimates 40,000 people become infected with HIV every year in the United States, and that roughly 25 percent of those people do not know they have the virus.

The Tennessee Department of Health offers confidential HIV testing at all health department clinics. To find your local health department, visit the TDOH Web site at http://health.state.tn.us/localdepartments.htm.

To learn more about the Department of Health’s HIV prevention and care activities, as well as funding opportunities for HIV prevention services, go to