Multnomah County’s Board of Commissioners on Thursday proclaimed it World AIDS Week countywide from Dec. 1-7.
The proclamation came after a briefing about both local and global efforts on “getting to zero” in the areas of new HIV infections, discrimination and AIDS-related deaths.
Before the board voted unanimously at its Dec. 5 meeting to support the proclamation, Commissioner Judy Shiprack pointed out that the “getting to zero” goals of World AIDS Day are all relevant as well for Multnomah County.
More than half the roughly 7,000 Oregonians living with HIV -- 55 percent -- live in Multnomah County and one in five don’t know they have the disease, said Shiprack, who sponsored the resolution.
One of Multnomah County’s community partners in the fight against HIV/AIDS -- Cascade AIDS Project -- briefed the entire board on the history of outreach and education about HIV/AIDS, including its innovative archives on the 30 years of work and activism.
“We feel very lucky to have such a supportive Health Department to work with,” said Cascade AIDS Project interim co-executive director Michael Anderson-Nathe.
Anderson-Nathe stressed the three strategies to achieve the “getting to zero” goal are getting tested, providing access to care and medications for people who test positive and making sure those people stay with the care.
Cascade AIDS Project provides testing at its office on 208 S.W. 5th Ave. in downtown Portland from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays (a $50 donation is requested, but nobody is turned away).
“Get tested,” Anderson-Nathe told the board. “Everyone has an HIV status, either positive or negative.”
And Cascade AIDS Project also provides support services for employment; housing; HIV/AIDS education and outreach with a focus on communities of color as well as on young people; and distribution of condoms and supplies to practice safer sex.