Health
New York City will offer free HIV tests to homeless men
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New York City will offer free HIV tests to homeless men
New York City will offer free HIV tests to homeless men
New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg announced this week that city health workers are now offering rapid HIV antibody tests to single adult men at the city's homeless shelters, The New York Times reports. The tests can provide results in less than an hour, eliminating the long wait for results that lead many homeless people to avoid testing or to never return for their results if they do take an HIV test. Men who test positive for HIV infection will be offered medical referrals. The new program was launched to help identify the approximately 25% of the city's HIV-positive residents who are unaware they are infected. City officials say they are considering expanding the program to also include at-risk women.