Clinica Sierra Vista will offer free HIV testing on Friday.

Between 12:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. at the Orange & Butler Community Health Center at 1350 S. Orange Ave., the health clinic will offer free HIV testing, fresh produce, ice cream, and community resources from 10 organizations, according to a news release.

Testing can be done in under 20 minutes.

“The majority of our patients that I see don’t have any symptoms,” said Ashton Chase, a family nurse practitioner with Clinica Sierra Vista. “If they do, they present with flu-like symptoms, which people just pass off as the flu, and then eventually, when they get sick enough and end up in the emergency room and get screened for HIV, that’s when they are usually diagnosed.”

Fresno County reported 178 new HIV diagnoses in 2023, a 52% increase since 2019. The 16.6 per 100,000 local infection rate exceeds California’s average of 12.2 people per 100,000.

Trump Administration Ignores World AIDS Day

World AIDS Day takes place on Dec. 1 every year. Monday marked the first time the U.S. had not recognized World AIDS Day since its creation in 1988, remembering the millions who died to the virus.

NPR reported that when asked why the U.S. wasn’t recognizing World AIDs Day, the State Department issued a statement saying, “an awareness day is not a strategy.”

Asia Russell – executive director of Health GAP, a global HIV advocacy organization — countered that point of view with this statement:  “A commemorative day, as minor as that might sound, is actually life-saving work to chip away at that deadly stigma.”

Community Assistance Groups

Representatives from many community organizations and businesses will be on hand to inform residents about the services they provide. The groups include:

• West Care California–The Living Room
• BAART Programs
• Project Food Box
• American Red Cross
• AT&T
• Clinica Sierra Vista Integrated Behavioral Health
• Healthcare For the Homeless
• Health Insurance Assistance Program