Office of Internal Communications
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November 23, 2004
The University of Houston will join governmental agencies and non-profit organizations across the globe commemorating World AIDS Day on Wednesday, Dec. 1. The goal of World AIDS Day is to increase awareness of the deadly illness, which has infected 38 million people worldwide, including 950,000 Americans as of 2003, according to the Joint United Nations program on HIV/AIDS. UH hopes to help achieve that goal by sponsoring activities such as the display of the UH AIDS quilt, a health fair and free HIV testing. “I think it’s important every year to remember those who have died from AIDS-related illnesses,” said Gail Gillan, director of UH Wellness, who conducted her first HIV/AIDS workshop at UH 15 years ago. “Back then, there were 40,000 people living with HIV in the United States; now there are almost a million,” Gillan said. “My biggest fear and our greatest enemy is complacency. I am now talking to students who may never have lived in a world without AIDS. I don’t want them to accept that fate. I want us to keep fighting for a cure until we again live in a world without AIDS.” A crucial part of the battle against AIDS is testing, said Floyd Robinson, Health Center director. The Health Center will offer free, confidential and anonymous HIV testing to faculty, staff and students from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Dec. 1. No appointment is required. Results will be available beginning Friday, Dec. 3. “I encourage everyone to know their HIV status,” Robinson said. “One unprotected experience can render a person HIV positive. It is so important to get tested and then return for the test results even if a person has had only one unprotected experience.”
Robinson also noted that sex is not the only way of contracting HIV. The center also offers free testing on National
HIV Testing Day in June, and year-round testing for the UH community
for a $15 fee.
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