Sussex County College to hold World AIDS Day public forum

Newton — The Sussex County AIDS Task Force and Sussex County Community College will co-sponsor a public forum entitled “What’s New in HIV/AIDS Testing?” on Tuesday, Dec. 5, from 11 a.m. to noon. The forum will be held in the Sussex Bank Theater, Building D at Sussex County Community College, College Hill Road, Newton. Panelists will include Roger Franklin, Manager, HIV Counseling, Testing and Referral, Morristown Memorial Hospital; Mary Van Haarlem, RN, Clinic Supervisor, Planned Parenthood of Greater Northern New Jersey—Newton Clinic; and Claribel Aviles, Mobile Van Coordinator, Hope House AIDS Center, Dover. Topics to be discussed include the history of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, who is most at risk for HIV/AIDS today, the latest HIV/AIDS testing procedures, cost of testing, testing locations available to Sussex County residents, and current treatments. The Hope House Mobile HIV Testing Van will be on display outside the building, and quilt panels from the NJ Names AIDS Quilt Project will be shown in the theater. The forum is part of the World AIDS Day Commemoration for 2006 which is held each December. The forum is free and open to the general public. College students are invited to attend. For information on parking and directions to SCCC, call Heidi Gregg, assistant director of Student Activities, at 973-300-2232 or visit the College website at www.sussex.edu. For more details about the Sussex County AIDS Task Force, call Linda L. Hendrickson, Ph.D. at 973-948-3249.