MONTGOMERY, Ala.
Organizers of the state’s first school screening for AIDS and HIV were impressed by the number of students volunteering for the test at a Birmingham high school.
“We were surprised by the turnout,” said Donald Smith, chairman of Birmingham’s AIDS Task Force, which organized last week’s testing at Wenonah High School. “But this is just so important, to get this education, and testing, started early.”
Wenonah High School is historically Black, making HIV and AIDS education particularly important to its students, Smith said.
In 2004, 70 percent of all new AIDS diagnoses in Alabama occurred in Blacks, and 63 percent of people living with AIDS were Black.
These statistics show it is crucial to provide teens with HIV information, Smith said.
Alabama law requires that at least one hour of HIV and AIDS information be presented to students in grades 5 through 12 each year. Smith said that he first approached Birmingham city schools officials to help implement this law, and worked especially with Wenonah High School to develop a more integrated program.
