Showing of “Dallas Buyers Club” precedes discussion at State Theatre on June 27
Recognizing National HIV Testing Day, the Thomas Judd Care Center and Traverse City’s State Theatre will offer a free screening of the Academy Award® winning film, “Dallas Buyers Club,” followed by a panel discussion on the importance of HIV testing in northern Michigan.
The event begins at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, June 27, at the theater.
Dallas Buyers Club is based on the experiences of Ron Woodroof, a Texas electrician diagnosed with AIDS in the mid-1980s. Given just 30 days to live, Woodroof seeks alternative therapies and ultimately begins to smuggle unapproved drugs into the U.S. from wherever he can find them. In the film, Woodroof joins forces with a fellow AIDS patient and begins to sell the treatments to a growing number of people who are also suffering from AIDS.
“We wanted to screen a movie that deals with the important issue of HIV testing and treatment to reinforce the need for community awareness and resources across our region,” said Nicholas Erber, Ph.D., manager of the Thomas Judd Care Center. “I think most people consider HIV and AIDS to be a chronic disease and therefore no longer an urgent issue. But in a rural community like ours, access to care and testing as well as the affordability of treatment continues to be a challenge.”
A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report on a 2015 HIV outbreak in rural Indiana attributed the outbreak to opioid IV drug use and the sharing of drug paraphernalia. The CDC also identified 220 counties across the country vulnerable to similar outbreaks, including 11 in northern Michigan.
Admission to the movie, popcorn, and beverages are free. The State Theatre is located at 233 E. Front St. in Traverse City.
To learn more about the event, go to munsonhealthcare.org/TJCC-GetTested.