Northwell To Offer Free HIV Testing At CVS Locations On LI

Northwell Health will be providing free, onsite HIV testing in a mobile health van parked at select CVS Pharmacy locations across Long Island as a way to increase access to HIV testing and promote prevention in high-risk areas.

There are approximately 130,000 people living with HIV in New York State. About 6,810 Long Island residents and 18,000 Queens residents are HIV-positive, data shows.

HIV “hot zones” were identified as Hempstead, Westbury, Huntington Station on Long Island, and Rosedale and surrounding areas in Eastern Queens.

Northwell’s mobile health van will kick off its efforts at CVS Pharmacy, located at 814 West Hempstead Ave. in West Hempstead, in the third week of December. The mobile health van will expand to other CVS Pharmacy locations during the first quarter of 2019.

“This new collaboration between Northwell and CVS Health will make a significant difference in increasing awareness about HIV testing in the communities we serve, improving the health of people who are HIV+ and supporting education efforts about preventing HIV,” said Joseph McGowan, MD, medical director of Center for AIDS Research and Treatment (CART) at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset.

McGowan says approximately 1,000 Long Islanders are unaware that they are HIV positive and thousands more are at risk for the disease.

CVS has also donated 500 HIV in-home test kits, so people can perform an oral swab in the privacy of their homes.

The home testing kits will be distributed at venues such as nightclubs and frequented locations common for those who may be undiagnosed but are reluctant to walk into a health van.

“Thirty years ago, physicians and patients did not have many medical options for battling advanced-stage AIDS. There also were many roadblocks – political opposition, fear and stigma,” McGowan said. “Back then, we could never have imagined a time when people who are HIV+, could receive life-saving treatment to prevent the virus, restore health and prevent transmission.”

For more information about the schedule and location for Northwell’s mobile health van, call CART at 516-713-8060.

Image via Northwell Health