The AIDS Resource Council of Rome is partnering with the Women of W.O.R.T.H. Women’s health clinic for free HIV testing for National Get Tested Day Saturday.

The tests will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Women of W.O.R.T.H. clinic at 1513 Dean Street and the AIDS Resource Council offices at 108-B East Fifth Avenue. Board member Frank Tant said it will take three days to get results.

Tant explained the test requires nothing but an oral swab.

“We're hoping to do between 20 tests that day between the two sites,” he said.

Tant added testing is available in the AIDS Alliance offices for free during their office hours on a regular basis.

The AIDS Alliance of Northwest Georgia Inc. in Cartersville will hold testing clinics at their location at 775 West Avenue Thursday and Friday from 2 to 7 p.m., and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Annie Carter, the director of HIV testing and preventive services for the AIDS Alliance, said testing would only take 10 minutes per person.

“It’s a finger prick, and then you get your results back in 10 minutes,” she said. “If it comes back positive, you send off to the lab for a second test and it takes four to five days for results to come back.”

Carter said many locals get tested in places such as Fulton County instead of Rome or Cartersville because of the “stigma” attached to the disease.

“People will go out of their area, especially in a rural area and small towns, because they wouldn't want anyone to know,” she said. “We're trying to alleviate that stigma that's out there, and to educate people and give them knowledge about the disease.”

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