Get Real. Get Tested.

North Carolina Division of Public Health Communicable Disease Branch Holly Watkins Campaign Coordinator

Statistics for North Carolina
Approximately 33,000 North Carolinians living with HIV disease.
North Carolina averages 1,800 new reported cases of HIV each year.
Approximately 30% of the new cases being reported are people who are in the late stages of AIDS.
For the first three quarters of 2009, there were 684 cases of early (infectious) syphilis reported in North Carolina. By comparison, 359 cases of early syphilis were reported in North Carolina from January 2008 through September 2008. This represents a 90% increase in cases reported.
African Americans and Latinos continue to be disproportionately affected by HIV and syphilis.

Campaign Goals and Target Population
The goal of this campaign is to raise awareness on the importance of getting tested for HIV and other STDs.
The Get Real Get Tested campaign targets multiple populations.
Created several commercials, including one in Spanish focusing on the Latino community.
Working on two new commercials, one focusing on MSM and the second focusing on pregnant women.
Working to incorporate integrated test messages.
The campaign goals and target populations were determined by using surveillance and epi data. This allows us to identify the populations most affected and the high morbidity areas around the state.

Campaign Message and Product
The messages for the campaign are: get educated about HIV and STDs, get tested and if you test positive, get treated. Know your HIV status and know your partner’s HIV status.
Get Real Get Tested offers free screening for HIV and syphilis. For certain events, we also offer screening for gonorrhea and chlamydia.
During the testing events, we offer a $5 gift card and a small bag containing condoms, lube and educational information for anyone who gets tested.
The campaign messages were developed based on input from community based organizations, Division of Public Health and focus groups. The messaging is fact based.

Campaign Message and Product (cont.)
The Get Real Get Tested campaign has a media partner. We work with a local television station to create television commercials which are aired on several stations around the state. These commercials air in prime time – not at odd hours.
The prevention and testing messages are delivered through radio, T.V., print and Internet.
The media partner also works with us to deliver viewer data so that we have an estimate of the number of people that view the commercial.
Prevention and education messages are also delivered during one on one counseling sessions with patients.

Campaign Evaluation and Cost
The cost of the campaign is approximately $200,000 per year. This covers cost for television commercials and event cost. In the past, the state has contributed to the campaign along with Duke Medicine and pharmaceutical companies.
Our media partner matches contribution dollar for dollar. They give in-kind air time for commercials, consultation and production to the campaign.
In order to assess whether our campaign goal was achieved, we’ve looked at hits on a web site. We’ve created a survey to be administered during Get Real Get Tested events.
We are just beginning the cost evaluation process and hope to continue working with the CDC on evaluation techniques and technical assistance.

“Get Real Get Tested” Commercials
Commercials are running across North Carolina – We’ve used local community members that would be recognizable There are six different commercials running, including a Spanish commercial running on Univision.
Commercials are shown in prime time slots, i.e. “House, M.D.” and “American Idol ”. Also aired commercial during the Super Bowl 2007, NASCAR races in 2008 and show finales in 2009.
These commercials are airing statewide in North Carolina.

“ Get Real Get Tested” Commercials

Targeted Campaign – “Get Real Get Tested”
Targeted Campaign Coordinator – Constance Jones
Manages each targeted campaign event including staff and operations.
Safety Officer – Bernard Davis
Manages the safety aspects of each “GRGT” event
The GRGT team collaborates with the Surveillance and Field Services teams in order to select areas that are considered to have high morbidity rates. Cities visited in 2006-07 included Fayetteville, Raleigh, Durham, High Point, Greensboro, Rocky Mount, Goldsboro, Kinston and Charlotte.
Locations for 2008 included Sanford, Cullowhee, Greenville, Raleigh, Henderson, Fayetteville and Winston-Salem.
Locations for 2009 include Wilmington, Durham, Raleigh, Winston Salem and Elizabeth City.

HIV testing in North Carolina from 2006 and 2008
2006 2008
Number of HIV tests processed at the State Lab 146,548 214,215
Number of HIV positive cases (new and previous) identified 837 1,079
Number of persons tested for HIV that were Medicaid eligible 66,973 85,582
Number of new positives by race:
African American/African 416 536
Asian and Pacific Islander 6 2
Hispanic/Latino 55 60
Native American/Alaskan Native 1 6
White 129 128
Unknown Ethnicity 35 45

Results from the “Get Real Get Tested” campaign 2006 - 2008
From 2006 to 2008, HIV tests processed by the State Public Health Lab increased by 48% in North Carolina. This is an increase of 70,000 tests – (144,000 in 2006 to 214,000 in 2008).
In 2007, there were 7,422 rapid HIV tests administered at non-traditional testing sites (NTS) in North Carolina with 71 people testing positive for HIV.
In 2008, there were over 13,000 rapid HIV tests administered at non traditional test sites and jails in North Carolina with 165 people testing positive for HIV.
Over 3,000 people were tested during 2006-2008 Get Real, Get Tested door to door community testing events.
Targeted campaign conducted in 19 locales across North Carolina.
During the door to door community testing events, we identified 34 people who tested positive for the HIV-1 antibody and 30 people who were positive for syphilis.

Get Real. Get Tested.

by CDC NPIN

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Get Real. Get Tested. Presentation Transcript