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As with many tasks in life, when it comes to HIV testing, the waiting is sometimes the hardest part.
That’s one reason Wednesday will be a convenient time to get an HIV test at Monongalia County Health Department at the Access for All Clinic. Participants will be offered the chance to get a rapid HIV test and learn the results in under 30 minutes.
“The rapids are going to be finger sticks, just a tiny finger stick, and if someone is borderline or positive, that is followed up with a blood test,” said registered nurse Chantry Michael, of MCHD Clinical Services, who has helped organize the day of testing with Kayla Sisler, LPN, Monica Cutlip, RN, and Mark Liptrap, Monongalia County Health Department’s social worker and counselor.
Timed to coincide with World AIDS Day, Dec. 1, the Access for All Clinic will allow individuals to also be tested for chlamydia and gonorrhea, which are done via a urine sample, and also for syphilis and hepatitis B and C, which require a blood draw.
MCHD Clinical Services has held HIV testing events before on World AIDS Day, but not since before the pandemic, and the Access for All Clinic will be bigger than previous ones.
“We’ve been able to open our clinics more, and we thought it would be a great time to integrate everything we’ve done over the past year,” Michael said.
That includes working on reducing stigma surrounding sexually transmitted infections.
Plus, staff members recently took Safe Zone training from the LBGTQ+ Center at West Virginia University, in order to learn how to more effectively treat patients from that community.
“Anyone who calls and schedules an appointment, we always try to make them feel comfortable,” Michael said. “We’re here for them with no judgment. It doesn’t matter what brought you here. We want to do what’s best for our patients.”
In addition to the tests, other incentives will be offered to bring patients in and make them more comfortable, with help from outside entities, including the West Virginia University Positive Health Clinic.
For instance, “The Positive Clinic is providing Kroger and Walmart gift cards for us to give out to participants, which is really appreciated and should help drive attendance,” Michael said.
Also, in addition to appointments, which can be made by calling MCHD Clinical Services at 304-598-5119, walk-ins will be welcome.
“Having an event like this for World AIDS Day brings to light and illustrates that no matter where you come from, STI screening is part of a wellness check,” Michael said. “Just like you go to your primary caregiver once a year, if you are sexually active, give STI tests the same weight as your annual visit. It should be included in your health care. It should be a big priority for people who want to make sure that they are healthy.”
It’s recommended that all sexually active individuals be tested for STIs at least once a year, and sometimes more often depending on the circumstances.
In addition to the rapid tests, there will be other incentives to draw people to the clinic.
If someone does receive news of a positive test, a disease intervention specialist from the West Virginia Bureau of Public Health will be available to talk to the individual and follow up with anyone who needs treatment and help with contacts.
“If a patient gives us this information, we will contact the partners anonymously and then we would screen them and treat them without identifying who the positive individual is,” Michael said.
Conceived by the World Health Organization, the first World AIDS Day was held Dec. 1, 1988, in the midst of the pandemic that emerged earlier in the decade.
The idea was to highlight human immunodeficiency virus, which, if left untreated, usually led to AIDS, or acquired immune deficiency syndrome, and also death.
Treatments for the virus have vastly improved the outlook for individuals with HIV since then, Liptrap said.
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