Public Health and BCAP Break Down Barriers to
HIV Testing
It’s better to know. Take the test. Take
control. Friday, September 29, 2006, Boulder, CO — October is National
AIDS Awareness Month. In recognition of this and to remove a
primary barrier to testing - cost, free HIV tests will be
provided at the Boulder County Public Health (BCPH) Longmont
clinic throughout the entire month. This is the second time in three months that HIV testing has
been offered free of charge in Boulder County. On June 24,
BCPH and Boulder County AIDS Project (BCAP) joined together to
offer free testing in recognition of National HIV Testing Day.
With the help of 35 volunteers roaming Pearl Street to educate
the community, 1,000 reference cards were distributed, and 93
people were tested and now know their HIV status. Both events
are the result of the two organizations joining forces to
increase the capacity for HIV testing in Boulder County and to
further break down barriers to testing, such as cost,
transportation, and stigma.
“We were excited by the number of people willing to take that
step to find out their HIV status on National HIV Testing
Day,” said Kate Storm, BCPH HIV/STI Program Coordinator. “We
hope to see many others willing to find out their HIV status
this month during National AIDS Awareness Month. Knowing your
HIV status is the first step in HIV prevention.” “We know statistically that many of the populations
disproportionately affected by HIV also have other factors
that make getting an HIV test difficult,” said Shelly King
from BCAP. “Issues like lack of education, culturally
competent services, substance abuse and mental health issues,
poverty, and transportation continue to be barriers.” “Together we can increase the capacity for testing and do more
targeted testing to individuals that are at higher risk for
HIV who might not visit a primary care provider,” said Storm.
“By doing more targeting testing, we will hopefully help those
at high risk to get tested, get to treatment, and help to keep
the community safe.”
Some of the community barriers to testing have been removed so
that infection can be identified early. “By doing off-site
outreach testing, we are literally ‘meeting the client where
they are at’ - they no longer have to travel to BCAP or BCPH
for testing,” said Rodolfo Martinez from BCAP. “This removes
any transportation barriers to getting tested. Plus, we are
offering these tests FREE of charge, so cost is no longer an
issue.” BCPH and BCAP have partnered with several other community
organizations that understand the importance of offering HIV
testing to their clients for free. These organizations include
Monarch Counseling Center, El Comite, Teen Clinic, Sister
Carmen, Salud, Carriage House, the Boulder Methadone Clinic,
and the Boulder Shelter for the Homeless. It is the mission of
the BCPH/BCAP collaboration to continue building partnerships
with other organizations. Targeted testing is not the only kind of testing being
recommended by BCPH and BCAP. Both organizations support the
revised HIV testing recommendations that were released by the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on September
21. These recommendations encourage everyone aged 13-64 to get
tested during routine medical visits. With over 40,000 new HIV
infections in the United States every year, HIV is a problem
that just isn’t going away. “The only ways we are going to be able to stop the spread of
this disease is for people to get tested, know their status,
and take precautions to protect themselves and their
partners,” said Frank O’Cana from BCAP. For individuals without a primary care physician or who are
concerned about their HIV status becoming a part of their
medical record, the collaboration between the two agencies
also provides the option of being tested anonymously. “There are more HIV testing options than ever before,” said
Storm. “Ask your doctor about them, or give BCPH or BCAP a
call to find out about anonymous HIV testing options available
in Boulder County.”
In-house testing at BCPH is offered for $35/test for any
community member.. For information about the free testing
being offered during the month of October, or if you have
additional questions, please call BCPH at 303-413-7500.
For more information:
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