D.C. Mayor Pledges More HIV Testing and Free Condoms

Via the Washington Post:

Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's administration pledged yesterday to triple the number of free condoms being distributed by the D.C. government within a year and to work with city hospitals to increase HIV testing in emergency rooms.

The plans were announced as the administration released a report that called HIV-AIDS a "modern epidemic" in the District and showed that the condition, once considered a gay disease, has spread to the general population.

Of the 3,269 HIV cases identified between 2001 and 2006, 37 percent were spread through heterosexual sex, compared with 25 percent attributable to men having sex with men. The study also showed the stark impact on the African American community, where more than 80 percent of the new cases were identified.