Fade Out HIV: Barber and Clinician Outreach in Philadelphia

WHY IT MATTERS

  • Philadelphia County is in the top 50 of US counties in number of HIV diagnoses.
  • Black Americans are disproportionately affected by HIV, making up 40% of new HIV infections.
  • Black men are 6 times more likely to acquire HIV than White men in their lifetime.
  • The only way to know your HIV status is to get tested, but there is well-documented mistrust of medical professionals in the Black community.
  • If your test result is positive, you can take medicine to treat HIV to help you live a long, healthy life and protect others.
  • If your test result is negative, you can take actions to prevent HIV. PrEP prevents sexual acquisition of HIV by 99% if taken daily as prescribed.

WHAT WE’RE DOING

  • Fade Out HIV is a project funded by a grant from Gilead to address HIV disparities in the Black community by partnering with barbershops.
  • Barbers often develop trusted relationships with their customers, which makes them ideal partners to address this issue.
  • We’ve partnered with barbershops in the past in Los Angeles and Dallas to get people tested for HIV.
  • Everyone who gets tested will receive a $20 VISA gift card and there are prizes for the barbers and barbershops that encourage the most customers to get tested.
  • We will have a total of 7 testing events at barbershops in Philly.

TESTING EVENTS AT PHILLY BARBERSHOPS

Testing events schedule:

  • Main Attraction Shop located at 5610 Lancaster Ave Unit 900 on Friday, December 20 from 4-7pm
  • Hair Wizards located at 6654 Frankford Ave on Saturday, December 21 from 10am-1pm
  • Philly Fade located at 153 E Main St. on Monday, December 23 from 11am-5pm
More to be announced!