New York City Speaker Christine Quinn may not be advocating for animals, but she knows more needs to done to save human lives.

The 41-year old sappho-politico penned a letter to the NY Times celebrating the city's commitment to HIV awareness. The city, however, can only do so much:

In order to help New Yorkers, the City Council and the Health and Hospital Corporation announced additional Council financing of $5.6 million for public hospitals to expand rapid H.I.V. testing. This investment has helped the hospitals expand their reach beyond AIDS centers and prenatal care clinics to offer rapid H.I.V. testing to current hospital patients, visitors to the emergency rooms and outpatient clinics.

Rapid testing helped hospitals test almost 134,000 patients last year, and allowed doctors and counselors the chance to provide education and services on the spot if a person tested positive.

Increasing the availability of testing can be vital in the early detection of H.I.V., and early detection can be the crucial factor in fighting this devastating illness.

The only way to truly combat this crisis is to ensure that all New Yorkers take a simple first step — learn their H.I.V. status.

You heard the woman – go get yourself an HIV test. It does a body good.