In recognition of World AIDS Day on December 1, Southern Jersey Family Medical Centers, a Federally Qualified Health Center committed to providing quality health care to the underserved and uninsured, encourages all southern Jersey residents to get tested for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. In the United States, about 1 in 7 people who have HIV don’t know it. While SJFMC offers free HIV testing every day at all eight of its health centers, health leaders are urging the public to take part in free walk-in testing on Thursday, November 29 and Friday, November 30 ahead of World AIDS Day on December 1, 2018. The only way to know for sure whether or not you have HIV is to get tested. You could have HIV and still feel healthy. Everyone ages 15 to 65 needs to get tested at least once. Some people may need to get tested more often. 
HIV is passed from one person to another by:- Having unprotected sex with a person who has HIV
- Sharing needles with someone who has HIV
- Breastfeeding, pregnancy or childbirth if the mother has HIV
- Getting a transfusion of blood that’s infected with HIV (very rare in the United States)
Around the world, about 37 million people are living with HIV. In the United States, about 38,500 people get infected with HIV every year. World AIDS Day is a global initiative to raise awareness, fight prejudice and improve education about HIV and AIDS.
