April 18th marks the annual observance of National Transgender HIV Testing Day (NTHTD).

NTHTD calls attention to the impact of the HIV epidemic among transgender people and the importance of routine HIV testing. Today we offer digital communication resources to support those key messages of NTHTD 2020.

In addition, as we continue to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Center for Transgender Equality has some resources on COVID-19 for the trans communityExit Disclaimer.

Toolkit

The University of California San Francisco’s Center of Excellence for Transgender Health (CoE) offers a free comprehensive NTHTD toolkitExit Disclaimer for public use. This resource can serve as a guide for community-based organizations and prevention programs serving the transgender community. It offers resources on hosting community HIV-testing events, developing expanded visibility campaigns for HIV testing, providing HIV testing services, and engaging trans community members in promoting status awareness among all trans people. This kit is available in English and Spanish. A condensed toolkitExit Disclaimer is available for health departments.

Social Media: #TransHIV and #NTHTD

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) offers social media resources to mark the observance, including Twitter and Facebook covers, posts, and infographics on stigma and the continuum of care.

On the CoE site you can find an NTHTD banner and a placardExit Disclaimer for your own message of support. The CoE has posted the logoExit Disclaimer (PDF, 394 KB) for download.

To observe NTHTD, San Francisco Community Health Center will host a live-streamed panel discussion via FacebookExit Disclaimer on Saturday April 18th at 6:30pm PST/9:30pm Eastern; Community leaders will discuss the importance and life-changing power of HIV testing.

For the Web

Images from HIV.gov’s Basics section (and other sections) are available for you to use.

We also encourage you to share and cross-post our blogs, especially those tagged with the National Transgender HIV Testing Day and Transgender People categories, and to subscribe to the blog for Awareness Day news.

In Your Own Words

These resources can help communicators to craft their own messages:

1. HIV.gov’s NTHTD page hosts communication resources from several federal agencies. In our HIV Basics section we briefly explain how HIV testing works and what to expect when taking a test.
2. To find and connect with convenient local services, enter a ZIP code into the HIV Testing Sites & Care Services Locator. Then please share this tool with your friends.
3. CDC’s resource page about HIV and transgender people reviews terminology, includes available data, and describes HIV prevention challenges for those who serve the transgender community. From the Let’s Stop HIV Together campaign, the Transforming Health: Patient-Centered HIV Prevention and Care initiative aims to assist healthcare providers to offer patient-centered care, reduce new HIV infections among transgender people, and improve the health of transgender people who have HIV.
4. Additional educational resources are available in the CoE Resources sectionExit Disclaimer.

We hope you join the 2020 conversation about NTHTD.