06/19/2015
NEWS
Warning HIV Outbreak Sign Appears on Indiana Highway
By Todd Heywood
June 9, 2015
From TheBody.com
'Warning HIV Outbreak' road sign
Motorists along busy Interstate Highway 65 outside of Indianapolis were greeted with digital construction signs this week warning them of an HIV outbreak.
One such sign was located at the rest area at mile marker 72 on I-65. I-65 is a massive trucking and travel interstate highway linking Chicago to Alabama.
Scott County, in Southern Indiana, has seen an HIV outbreak since December 2014. That outbreak has included 145 positive tests, mostly among intravenous drug users in the rural, impoverished community. To combat that outbreak, health officials created an educational campaign, particularly for truck drivers in the region. This educational campaign, according to an Indiana government press release, included highway signs. The campaign is called "You Are Not Alone."
Such signs have been used by Indiana Department of Transportation officials, the press release confirms.
"INDOT is already using their electronic message signs to promote the HIV testing hotline and is planning to place signage at the rest stops near Henryville and Taylorsville," said Jerome Adams, M.D., M.P.H., the state's health commissioner.
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