The harm reduction initiative from Damien Center is in partnership with the Marion County Public Health Department.

Sheila Muhammad tested positive for HIV more than 30 years ago and her life quickly changed. But as the years passed, attitudes and treatments of HIV changed. Muhammad spoke with Side Effects Public Media about the power in education and understanding of the virus.

The CDC reported the first case of HIV 40 years ago. Since then, health officials and advocates learned much more about the virus and how to prevent it. But Black women are being infected at unusually high rates. Outreach organizations are working to change that.

Indiana drew national attention for an HIV outbreak in 2015 — mainly due to drug users. But there’s a hidden HIV epidemic among another group of people — Black women, who are being diagnosed with HIV at disproportionately high rates.

The health fair, which is part of the annual Indiana Black Expo, offered about $2,000 worth of health services for free to attendees, including eye exams, breast cancer screenings, and HIV and Hepatitis C rapid tests.

The Damien Center in Indianapolis will house some who are HIV positive and experiencing homelessness in hotel rooms for the next month.

The Damien Center helps people with HIV get on the proper drugs. But that's just one piece of the puzzle to end the epidemic. Many clients have more basic needs and the center is able to provide for those, and more.

In many Midwest states its illegal for someone with HIV to have sex without telling partners about the illness. Some public health experts are pushing to change those laws.

The county's program provides clean syringes in exchange for used ones to reduce needle-sharing that can lead to the spread of disease.

The bill removes stigmatized legal language, changes penalties and updates duty to warn laws.