SUN VALLEY — Andrea Katz has been clean and sober for 21 years, almost as long as she has had AIDS.

"HIV made me decide that I either had to fight the disease or give into addiction," Katz said.

Katz, now 54, was diagnosed with HIV on Mother's Day of 1988. There was no medication available at the time and, in 1994, her disease progressed to AIDS.

Katz contracted HIV through sex with a heterosexual man who chose not to tell her he was infected. By the time he told her that he had HIV, they had been together for six months.

When she was diagnosed, Katz's own daughter was 8 years old. She is now raising her 9-year-old granddaughter, Alyssa.

She is also a speaker for Frontline, a prevention program to educate high-risk youth and students about HIV/AIDS.

"They assume by looking at someone they can tell if they have a disease or not," Katz said, referring to the students she talks to. "But I know through personal experience, that is not true."

Katz will be talking on Sunday at "Real Women Know," a female-focused World AIDS Day program for the community presented by African-American Community Education Programs and Trainings (ACCEPT) and the Greater Light Christian Center.

"It is so important for women to know if they are HIV positive, or negative," said Gwen Taylor, executive director of ACCEPT. "But a lot of people, women included, just don't want to know."

ACCEPT was founded in 1995 by Pastor Glenn E. Taylor Sr. as an outreach of the Great Light Christian Center, located at 2540 Sutro St. in Reno.

"We are focusing on women," Taylor said, "because women in the U.S. have 25 to 26 percent of all the HIV/AIDS cases."

In Nevada, 290 people per 100,000 have HIV/AIDS and women make up 15 percent of the epidemic, she said. In 2008, women were 24 percent of new infections in the state.

“These numbers are staggering,” Taylor said. “The epidemic has been out since the early '80s and it still is not going down.”

That is why she feels she must work hard with different events and educating the community, especially young people.

“We have the World AIDS Day Program to bring awareness and to make sure that people can get tested,” Taylor said. “We are even offering incentives to get people to come.”

The first 50 people to get tested at Sunday's event will receive a $5 Walmart gift card.

“The process is relatively short,” said Jennifer Hadayia, public health program manager for the Washoe County District Health Department. “It takes about 15 minutes depending on how many questions the client has.”

The health department is offering testing for four types of sexually transmitted diseases: HIV, syphilis, chlamydia and gonorrhea. HIV and syphilis testing are done through a blood draw; chlamydia and gonorrhea are tested through a urine sample.

“Nevada law states that testing cannot be done anonymously,” Hadayia said. “But it is 100 percent confidential.”

Clients can call the office about a week after they are tested for the results, Hadayia said. If they test positive for anything, they will receive a call from a nurse. The event starts at 2 p.m. with free pizza. From 3 to 5 p.m. there will be speakers, games, skits and videos.

"It is a day of awareness, testing and of not forgetting those who have passed on because of HIV or AIDS-related illnesses," Taylor said.

Real Women Know will be held Sunday at 2540 Sutro St. Suite 1 in Reno.