National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day – March 10: Things You Can Do

Learn how HIV/AIDS affects women and girls. Around 1 in 4 people living with HIV in the United States are women. Today, more tools are available to prevent HIV. In addition to safer health practices—limiting the number of sexual partners, never sharing needles, using condoms correctly and consistently—you may be able to take advantage of medicines that prevent and treat HIV, including pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), post-exposure prophylasis (PEP), and antiretroviral therapy (ART).

Testing for HIV can give you important information and help keep you—and others—safe. Knowing your HIV status can give you peace of mind, and testing is the only way you can know for sure. Knowing your status is also important because it helps you make healthier decisions to prevent getting or transmitting HIV. HIV testing is a normal part of life—if everyone else is Doing It, you can too! Find a testing location in your area.

• Use the Doing It  testing locator
• Text your ZIP code to “KNOW IT” (566948)
• Call 1-800-CDC-INFO
• Talk to your doctor or health care provider
• Take a home HIV test

When parents and caregivers communicate honestly and openly with their teen about sex, relationships, HIV and STDs, and pregnancy prevention, they promote better decision making about behaviors that place youth at risk. The Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH) fact sheet offers parents practical actions to help strengthen their efforts to engage positively with their teens and to have meaningful discussions with them about sex.

• Attend the Office on Women’s Heath National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day Walk on March 10 in Washington, DC
• Host a National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day walk or event in your community
• Get to know the National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day ambassadors
• Check out other awareness day resources from the Office on Women’s Health
• Follow Act Against AIDS on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram
• Follow Office on Women’s Health on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube
• Help get #NWGHAAD and #BestDefense trending on social media by sharing and retweeting Awareness Day messages, or creating your own. Here are a few sample posts you can use leading up to and on #NBHAAD:
  • The #BestDefense is a good offense! For #NWGHAAD, I’m taking action to protect my sexual health & help prevent HIV
  • Today is National Women & Girls #HIV/AIDS Awareness Day! Are you #DoingIt? Get tested for HIV: cdc.gov/DoingIt. #NWGHAAD
  • Celebrate #NWGHAAD by playing the #BestDefense: Regular #HIV testing! cdc.gov/DoingIt #DoingIt
  • 1 in 4 people living w/ #HIV in the US is a woman. This #NWGHAAD, make #DoingIt part of your regular health routine! cdc.gov/DoingIt
  • I’m #DoingIt – testing for HIV! Join me on #NWGHAAD by finding a free #HIV testing site near you: cdc.gov/DoingIt