HIV testing in Mississippi — where to get tested, free options, what to expect
The number
520 new HIV diagnoses in Mississippi in 2022, 82% among Black residents — all preventable with timely testing and linkage to PrEP.
Ryan White Part B
Mississippi State Department of Health, STD/HIV Office
State ADAP
Mississippi AIDS Drug Assistance Program
Income cap 400% FPL
State PrEP-DAP
Not operated; federal Ready Set PrEP applies
Where to get tested in Mississippi
10,400 people are living with HIV in Mississippi, and 82% of new diagnoses in 2022 were among Black residents. Getting tested is the first step — the CDC recommends at least one HIV test for every adult 13-64, and annual testing for anyone sexually active with more than one partner or injecting drugs. Rapid tests return results in about 20 minutes from a fingerstick; laboratory tests take a few days but catch infections sooner after exposure (as early as 10 days with a nucleic-acid test).
Where to test for free in Mississippi: every county health department runs an STI / HIV testing clinic, and Mississippi State Department of Health, STD/HIV Office contracts with community-based organizations to operate walk-in rapid testing with evening and Saturday hours. No ID or insurance is required at these sites. Confidentiality is protected — state law requires public-health HIV testing results to stay out of your medical record unless you authorize release, and anonymous testing (no name collected) is available at most community sites.
What to expect: a pre-test conversation about risk and what a positive result would mean, the test itself (either fingerstick or blood draw), and post-test counseling. If the rapid test is reactive, the counselor draws blood for a confirmatory Western blot or antigen/antibody test. If you're positive, you'll be linked to a Ryan White Part C clinic for same-week HIV primary care and ADAP enrollment if you qualify by income.
The Mississippi HIV info line is 1-601-576-7723; staff can point you to the nearest free testing site, schedule PrEP, and help you navigate insurance or no-insurance options. Long-time Black residents name My Brother's Keeper Inc. and University of Mississippi Medical Center Adult Special Care Clinic as the local institutions that show up consistently — both are listed below.
My Brother's Keeper Inc.. My Brother's Keeper in Ridgeland, Mississippi, is the state's largest Black-led HIV service organization, operating community-based testing across the Mississippi Delta and the Community Health PEARL program — a rapid-PrEP-initiation partnership with Delta Health Center.
University of Mississippi Medical Center Adult Special Care Clinic. The UMMC Adult Special Care Clinic in Jackson is Mississippi's largest Ryan White Part C grantee, serving more than 2,800 people living with HIV — nearly 85% Black — and hosting the MS CEAL community engagement program with Jackson State University.
For Black families in Mississippi
The South carries the heaviest HIV burden in the country: Black Southern residents make up roughly 14% of the U.S. population but account for more than half of new Black HIV diagnoses nationally. In Mississippi, 82% of new 2022 HIV diagnoses were among Black residents. That figure reflects unequal access to testing more than underlying risk: a Black person in Mississippi waits longer for an HIV diagnosis on average than a white peer, and late diagnoses translate directly into later treatment starts and worse outcomes. The community organizations listed below — particularly those flagged as Black-community anchors on the directory — operate rapid-testing sites specifically designed to close that wait-time gap.
Named HIV testing + PrEP sites in Mississippi
My Brother's Keeper Inc. — Ridgeland
Ridgeland, MS • 1-601-898-0000
UMMC Adult Special Care Clinic
Jackson, MS • 1-601-984-1000
Open Arms Healthcare Center — Jackson
Jackson, MS • 1-601-500-7700
Delta Health Center — Mound Bayou
Mound Bayou, MS • 1-662-741-2151
Building Bridges Inc. — Jackson
Jackson, MS • 1-601-500-0730
Grace House — Jackson
Jackson, MS • 1-601-353-1038
Where to get help in Mississippi
- Mississippi HIV info line: 1-601-576-7723 — staff can find the nearest free testing site, schedule PrEP, or help enroll you in ADAP.
- Mississippi State Department of Health, STD/HIV Office landing page: https://msdh.ms.gov/page/14,0,150.html.
- Federally Qualified Health Centers in Mississippi: every FQHC offers sliding-scale HIV testing and has certified application counselors on staff. See our FQHC directory for the state at /clinics/ms/.
- State health data for Mississippi: for state-level HIV mortality, maternal health, and life-expectancy context by race, see /health/mississippi/.
- Mississippi Medicaid: Medicaid is the largest single payer of HIV care in most states. See /medicaid/mississippi/ for eligibility + enrollment.
- CDC NPIN testing-site finder: gettested.cdc.gov accepts a zip code and returns every free + low-cost HIV testing site within 50 miles.
References & primary sources
- Mississippi State Department of Health, STD/HIV Office: https://msdh.ms.gov/page/14,0,150.html.
- CDC HIV Surveillance Report 2022: cdc.gov/hiv/library/reports/hiv-surveillance.html. Source for state-level new diagnoses and race-stratified counts.
- HRSA HIV/AIDS Bureau, Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program grantee list: ryanwhite.hrsa.gov/grants/part-b.
- NASTAD ADAP Monitoring Project 2024 Annual Report: nastad.org/adap-monitoring-project. Source for ADAP income cap + enrollment + PrEP-DAP data.
- AIDSVu state profile: aidsvu.org/state/mississippi/.
Data refreshed: