HIV testing: it?s fast, easy … and vital

AIDS: We’ve been hearing about the deadly epidemic for years … but the continued rise in infections indicates that the message still may not be getting through. If Belize and the world are going to reverse that situation then the initial step is to find out who’s got the virus … and that means testing. News Five’s Kendra Griffith presents the first of a three part series.

Kendra Griffith, Reporting
We see and hear the messages all the time …

… But are Belizeans getting tested? We took to downtown Belize City to find out.

Kendra Griffith
?Have you ever gotten and HIV test??

Citizen #1
?Yes ma?am.?

Kendra Griffith
?Have you ever taken and HIV test??

Citizen #2
?No, not yet.?

Kendra Griffith
?Do you know where to go to get tested??

Citizen #2
?I noh really sure.?

Kendra Griffith
?Have you ever been tested for HIV??

Citizen #3
?Not as yet.?

Kendra Griffith
?Any reason why??

Citizen #3
?Cause I?m a healthy strong person.?

Kendra Griffith
?How do you know you are a healthy, strong person??

Citizen #3
?I do a blood test everything and I always keep myself up together.?

Kendra Griffith
?Have you taken an HIV test when you take you blood test or do they test for other things??

Citizen #3
?I test for food handlers, that?s what I went for a test for. But I never try the test as yet.?

Kendra Griffith
?Have you ever been tested for HIV??

Citizen #5
?No ma?am.?

Kendra Griffith
?Any particular reason why??

Citizen #5
?Noh really.?

Kendra Griffith
?How do you protect yourself from HIV??

Citizen #5
?Using a condom every time I get with a partner.?

Kendra Griffith
?Was it very scary for you when you got tested??

Citizen #6
?No.?

Kendra Griffith
?Why did you decide to do it??

Citizen #6
?Because at the time I mi pregnant and I mi just want to know mi status.?

Kendra Griffith
?Have you ever been tested for HIV??

Citizen #4
?Never.?

Kendra Griffith
?Do you know where to go though if you want to take a test??

Citizen #4
?Neither.?

Kendra Griffith
?How do you protect yourself from HIV??

Citizen #4
?Abstain.?

Kendra Griffith
?Have you ever been tested for HIV??

Citizen #7
?Yes, definitely, I?m not positive. I am negative. Seaweed sure.?

Kendra Griffith
?Belize has come a long way in terms of HIV testing. Instead of having to endure two weeks of anxiety waiting for your results, with the introduction of rapid testing, you can now find out your status in as little as ten minutes.?

Dr. Paul Edwards, Deputy Dir., Health Services
?In September 2003, the ministry took the initiative to start what we call voluntary counselling and testing programmes, specifically related to HIV. It was with the help of a grant from the National Institute of Health in the United States and with a local N.G.O., the Belizean Association for Improved Health Care. Whereby through the grant they were able to provide the funds for rapid test, and the Ministry of Health designed the rest of the programme around that, the pre and post test counselling, the CD4 testing.?

According to Deputy Director of Health Services, Dr. Paul Edwards, before 2003, less than a thousand persons a year were taking an HIV test. Since then, that number has more than quadrupled.

Dr. Paul Edwards
?Today we can say as much as twelve to fourteen to sixteen thousand individuals have tested within the last three years. Within in the last three years, so the programme has been effective has been impactful.?

Lorna Perez, Nurse, VCT Clinic
?Most people when they come in to get tested it?s not just because I want to know my status, most of the time it?s because they think they have been at risk or maybe a boyfriend or a girlfriend has come in, they?ve gotten tested.?

There are currently thirteen sites throughout the country where persons can get tested free of charge and one Voluntary Counselling and Testing centre at Cleopatra White Health Clinic in Belize City, but Edwards says the Ministry of Health wants to take their initiative even further.

Dr. Paul Edwards
?What we want to do when we talk about integration is whereby it is clinician or healthcare services initiated, whereby all HIV testing will be promoted. It?s not for you to come in and ask, everybody who accesses and who has been engaged in sexual activity, it is being offered to them, and therefore we hope that through those mechanisms that more people then will be tested and know their HIV status.?

?We also want to have other testing sites available where people can have choices. I don?t want to go to that site because I know the lady who tests and she knows my mother who knows my grandmother, who knows my sister and might tell?even in my mind, so I?m not so comfortable in going there. So the more places we have, the more alternatives, the more choices people have it would promote and not inhibit people from accessing those services.?

In the meantime, HIV organisations around the country are also working on diminishing stigma and discrimination, a well-known deterrent to testing.

Kendra Griffith Reporting for News Five.

Parts two and three of Kendra’s report will be presented on Wednesday and Thursday.