Regional Testing Day For HIV/AIDS Tomorrow

PRESS RELEASE – Regional Testing Day (RTD) is celebrating its tenth anniversary this Friday when people from 21 countries across the Caribbean will be afforded the opportunity to get tested for HIV at over 300 sites across the region.

The aim is to test 100,000 people across the region during this year. Last year, over 20,000 people were tested in 20 countries at over 300 testing sites.

Regional Testing Day has been organised by LIVE UP: The Caribbean Media Alliance, for the last ten years with the support of two critical strategic partners, Scotiabank and the Pan Caribbean Partnership against HIV/AIDS (PANCAP).

Scotiabank makes their bank branches accessible so the public can be tested easily as they do their banking business while extending hospitality to the testing and counselling teams and taking care of any external infrastructure needed at testing sites. PANCAP mobilizes all Ministries and Departments of Health who in turn provide all the Counseling and Testing Teams. The Ministries of Health provide the testing kits, expertise and resources to conduct the testing at the agreed locations.

A major milestone of the 10th Anniversary Regional Testing Day celebrations was the presentation of 33 awards to organizations and individuals from across the Caribbean who have worked tirelessly over the last ten years in support of Regional Testing Day (RTD) activities. The awardees hailed from St. Lucia, Jamaica, Belize, Haiti, Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, Trinidad and Tobago, St. Kitts-Nevis, Dominica and the British Virgin Islands.

LIVE UP: The Caribbean Media Alliance presented the awards to 21 individuals and 12 organizations as part of its continued promotion of its unique media brand, addressing HIV and issues of human rights and social justice in the Caribbean.

Testing sites for Saint Lucia are as follows:

Thursday, June 29 Castries Wellness Centre, Castries 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.