Norton Organizes HIV Testing for Congressional World AIDS Day Today

Norton Organizes HIV Testing for Congressional World AIDS Day Today

December 1, 2011

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today will be tested for HIV by Unity Health Care, which will have certified staff on hand to test members of Congress and staff at the World AIDS Day Exhibit in the Rayburn House Office Building foyer from 1p.m. to 3 p.m. Members of the Congressional Black Caucus, and other members of Congress, will join Norton to be tested to encourage constituents to rid the country of HIV/AIDS, a preventable disease, through testing and safe sex.

"World AIDS Day should not simply be a day of commemoration. The point should be to spur people to personal action, beginning with a commitment to get tested," Norton said. "If there's going to be universal testing, members of Congress should lead by example and be the first to get tested."

Norton, who organized the testing at the event, has advocated for HIV testing throughout her career in Congress, particularly to help curb the disproportionate HIV/AIDS rate in communities of color, especially in the District, which has an unusually high HIV/AIDS rate. About 50 percent of those infected with HIV/AIDS in the United States are African Americans, who make up only 13 percent of the population.