Local health officials observe HIV Testing Day

With the number of reported HIV cases in Illinois on the rise, area health officials are encouraging the public to get tested this week in recognition of National HIV Testing Day on Saturday.

Educational events and free testing are available throughout the suburbs starting Wednesday with a program at Waubonsee Community College in Sugar Grove featuring the mother of Ryan White, an Indiana teen whose battle against AIDS was national news story in the late 1980s. Free HIV tests also will be available in Elk Grove Village and Aurora later in the week.

"There's a quarter of a million people in the U.S. who have HIV and don't know it. Those numbers are going to climb if we can't get people to get tested," said Lynne Kennedy, development coordinator at Open Door Clinic in Aurora and Elgin, which is sponsoring Wednesday's program.

Kennedy said Jeanne White Ginder will discuss her son's experiences with AIDS, as well as the government's role in prevention, at 1 p.m. at Waubonsee's Academic and Professional Center, at Route 47 and Waubonsee Drive. Admission is free. Ryan White died in April 1990.

From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday and Friday, the Elgin-based Renz Prevention Center is offering free HIV tests at Hunters Dance Club, 1932 E. Higgins Road, Elk Grove Village. Free testing also is available from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the Open Door Clinic, 157 S. Lincoln Ave., Aurora.

Kennedy said there were 286 reported cases of AIDS and HIV in Illinois in 2007 and 410 in 2008 for a spike of about 43 percent.

"People of color are our highest and fastest-growing population," she said. "It's a big problem here in Illinois." For more information on Open Door Clinic, call (847) 695-1093. To reach Renz Prevention Center, call (847) 697-1221. Both organizations offer HIV testing regularly.