Text 2 Survive, a service of the Illinois Department of Public Health that provides information via text message about the nearest location to get a confidential  HIV/AIDS test, is now available in both English and Spanish.

Spanish-speakers looking for an HIV/AIDS test can send a text with the message “centro” and their five-digit ZIP code to the phone number 3-6-3-6-3.

For the same information in English, text “IL” plus your ZIP code to 3-6-3-6-3.

In the four months this service has been available, 965 people have used it. The public health department hopes to increase that number with an awareness campaign, said public health spokeswoman Melaney Arnold.

“It such a great way to get our message out, as well as important testing information, especially to
teens who seem to be glued to their phones,” she said.

Want more public health information via text message?

Text “alert” to the same number for information about health announcements, surveys and educational information and text “event” to the same number for information about free HIV and other screenings across the state. This additional service is available only in English for now, according to the public health department.
 

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