(NOTE:Council Member Bowser will also be riding in the Caribbean Carnival Parade onSaturday, so it is advised to check ahead for her specific availability). Local partners in the District of Columbia for these HIV testing events includethe Caribbean Carnival organizers, City-Gate, Peaceoholics, and the Carl VogelCenter, an HIV/AIDS treatment center where people may be referred for care asneeded. The testing caravan is an ambitious effort to boost AIDS awareness and HIVprevention and testing efforts in some of the hardest hit regions of the UnitedStates. The caravan includes in one of AHF`s popular AHF Mobile HIV TestingUnits, which are named in honor ofand partnership with HIV positive basketballlegend Earvin Magic Johnson, Jr.

and actor and AIDS advocate Blair Underwood.The tour kicked off in Los Angeles on Monday, June 8th, and culminates with thecaravan`s arrival in DC on Saturday morning. AHF ispermanently relocating one ofthe mobile testing units from Los Angeles to DC, to provide free, easy-to-accessrapid HIV testing in various neighborhoods throughout the nation`s capital,where it was recently reported that the HIV prevalence rate has surged past 3% -higher than in Lagos, Nigeria. “While making initial plans to transport our brand new, state-of-the-artAHF/Magic Johnson Mobile Testing Unit from Los Angeles to Washington, DC, we hitupon the idea that this cross-country road trip presented a unique opportunityto raise awareness about HIV testing, prevention and treatment through specifictesting events and community outreach in cities and states along the way,” saidMichael Weinstein, President of AIDS Healthcare Foundation. “As a result, AHFpartnered with respected local AIDS and community groups in Phoenix;Albuquerque; Houston; New Orleans; Jackson, Mississippi; Pensacola, Florida;Montgomery, Alabama; Jacksonville; Atlanta; Columbia, South Carolina; Charlotte;Norfolk; and Washington, DC, to host free HIV testing and media events in eachof these communities.

At the end of the tour, the AHF/Magic Johnson MobileTesting Unit will remain and operate in Washington, where AHF will also open afree AIDS treatment clinic – our first in that city – later this summer.” “The beauty of these free mobile HIV testing vans is that AIDS HealthcareFoundation operates them right in the heart of the community – in parking lotsof popular retail stores, nearby hip nightclubs and gathering spots, at churchevents – and they provide the testing, counseling and results all in onesession, so people get their test results right away on the same day,” saidBlair Underwood, who attended the Los Angeles kick-off event. “It is importantthat people learn how to avoid becoming infected with HIV; or if they areinfected, know their HIV status, and seek medical treatment, if needed Peoplereally need to know their HIV status today. These HIV testing vans provide thatopportunity for free in a friendly, no hassle way.” During the testing tour, AIDS Healthcare Foundation will also present grants toeach of the local partners AHF is collaborating with along the way. The van,affectionately dubbed, “Bertha,” traveled on with the AHF/Magic Johnson TestingUnit through the remaining Southern and Eastern states and on to Washington.This mobile clinic will serve as an additional backup HIV testing van along theroute.

Bertha, however, will return to service as a mobile medical clinic inFlorida after the National HIV Testing event in Washington on June 27th. HIV Statistics in the United States”Last August, the Centers for Disease Control released new data showing analarming 40% increase in HIV infections in the US – 56,000 new cases each yearup from a previous estimate of 40,000 new cases annually,” said WhitneyEngeran-Cordova, Director of AIDS Healthcare Foundation`s Public HealthDivision. “There is no doubt that the South is disproportionately affected byHIV and without adequate resources. On our trip we want to meet our colleaguesin these cities, support agencies in providing testing and do what we can toraise awareness about the genuine need for HIV testing and treatment throughoutthe region. The number of new infections in the US is absolutely unacceptable.We have a responsibility to do what we must to help those with HIV know theirstatus and get linked into care.” According to an HIV/AIDS Policy Fact Sheet produced by the Kaiser FamilyFoundation (“The HIV/AIDS Epidemic in the United States,” updated, February2009, with statistics through 2007)* Ten states account for 71% of AIDS cases reported since the beginning of theepidemic. Nine of these states also rank in the top 10 for newly reported cases.Three of the states that the AHF/Magic Johnson Mobile Testing HIV testing Unitwill visit on its tour – Texas, Florida, and Georgia – are among these top tenstates; together, they account for 21% of the nation`s reported AIDS casesthrough the end of 2007 – or 216,199 cumulative AIDS cases.The Kaiser Fact Sheet also pointed out:* (AIDS) case rates per 100,000 provide a different measure of the epidemic`simpact, since they reflect the concentration of cases after accounting fordifferences in population size across states. The District of Columbia has thehighest AIDS case rate in the nation.

Seven of the top 10 states by AIDS caserate are in the South. The AHF/Magic Johnson Mobile HIV Testing Unit tour willtravel to and do HIV testing events in five of these Southern states and areas:Louisiana, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and the District of Columbia.Cumulative AIDS Cases in the DISTRICT of COLUMBIA 1.8% of US total (18,196 AIDScases through 2007, per CDC). About AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF)AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) is the nation`s largest non-profit HIV/AIDShealthcare provider. AHF currently provides medical care and/or services to morethan 100,000 individuals in 21 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, LatinAmerica/Caribbean and Asia.