“Scotiabank is pleased to partner with CBMP to help heighten public interest in and awareness of HIV testing,” said Joycelyn Murraine, Managing Director, Scotiabank (British Virgin Islands) Limited. “Supporting the growing program is part our ongoing commitment to raising awareness about HIV/AIDS in the communities where we work and live and aligns with Scotiabank’s global strategy on HIV/AIDS.”

Citizens from 21 countries across the Caribbean are invited to attend the free clinics to get tested for HIV. Select Scotiabank branches in 16 countries in the region are hosting the free clinics. The clinics in Road Town and Virgin Gorda will be held on June 29, 2012 at the following Scotiabank locations, where trained personnel from the Ministry of Health and Social Development will be on site to conduct free testing clinics and provide counseling services for individuals who are tested.

• Scotiabank, Virgin Gorda Branch, Testing Hours: 9:00am to 3:00pm

A list of additional locations can be found online at www.iliveup.com.

"I congratulate Caribbean media for their committed coverage of this important HIV prevention initiative now in its 5th year,” said Dr. Allyson Leacock, Executive Director, Caribbean Broadcast Media Partnership on HIV/AIDS. “This unique collaboration, conceived by the CBMP with media mounting a month-long campaign; the exemplary support from the private-sector in Scotiabank offering its locations as some of the testing sites; and the delivery of the technical expertise of Voluntary Counseling and Testing by the public sector through Ministries and Departments of Health, mobilized by PANCAP, is a model of the power of partnership in the response to HIV in our region."

Following the campaign’s continued success, 2012 marks the fifth year Scotiabank will host private and voluntary HIV testing sites for citizens across the Caribbean.

The 2012 Regional HIV Testing Day campaign officially launched in Kingston, Jamaica on May 25. Approximately 10,000 people from across the Caribbean are expected to be tested during this year’s campaign. There are 21 territories participating in Regional Testing Day, including: Anguilla, Antigua, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, BVI, Cayman Islands, Dominica, French Guiana, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, St. Maarten, St. Vincent, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos and USVI.

Regional Testing Day has expanded from its pilot program five years ago. In 2008, the Caribbean Broadcast Media Partnership (CBMP) on HIV/AIDS and Scotiabank in collaboration with regional Ministries of Health piloted the Caribbean’s first Regional HIV Testing Day in Barbados. In 2011, more than 10,000 people from 20 countries across the Caribbean were tested for HIV at Scotiabank branches and other locations.