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Getting people to take the test is a first step in AIDS fight
By Elise Hamner, City Editor
Monday, July 26, 2004 | 1 comment(s)
Every month Mary Murphy travels down the South Coast offering to test people for the HIV virus.
They meet her at health centers and other spots from Brookings to Reedsport.
They come, not by the dozen, but one by one.
The testing is free, sponsored by the Roseburg-based HIV Resource Center. There are no needles. The testing is anonymous. The goal is to let people know whether they might have the virus that causes AIDS.
"This is not a gay disease. It's not a black disease. It's not a sex worker disease," said Murphy, who's the Resource Center's outreach worker.
HIV/AIDS can infect anyone.
Right now, 13 to 24-year-olds are the highest infection group, according to Murphy. The CDC reports half of all new HIV infections occur in people younger than 25, although by breaking the statistics differently IV drug users and men who have sex with men represent the largest proportion of new infections.
The testing is simple.
Murphy takes a cotton swab from a person's mouth. She gets her results in seven to 10 days, but doesn't release the information to the individuals until she swings back down the coast on her monthly HIV testing loop. To maintain confidentially, she won't release results by phone.
"It's illegal," she said.
Murphy's goal is to have rapid tests available by the end of the year, enabling her to give people the results within 20 minutes. The FDA approved the tests in March and reported it considers the tests 99 percent accurate. The challenge for Murphy and her organization in getting the quick tests is money.
The Resource Center was funded through a two-year Centers for Disease Control grant that ended in April. It's survived off of various other grants, and Murphy said the nonprofit is pursuing more funding to carry out its mission.
"I don't want to give up these little coastal places," she said.
For now, the plans are to continue stopping at the South Coast spots monthly. Upcoming free HIV testing days are scheduled at the following times:
Aug. 12
- Coos Bay: from 3-6 p.m., South Coast Hospice Bereavement Center, 1610 Thompson Road;
Aug. 26
- Reedsport: from 3-6 p.m., Family Resource Center, 5 St. John's Way;
Aug. 27
- Port Orford: noon to 2 p.m., Curry County Health Department, 1403 U.S. Highway 101;
- Brookings: from 3-5 p.m., Curry health department, 425 Mill Beach Road.
- Gold Beach: from 6-8 p.m., Curry health department, 94235 Moore St.; and
Aug. 28
- Bandon: from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Southern Coos Specialty Clinic, 913 S.E. 11th St.
Testing is advisable for anyone who has ever had unprotected sex, shared needles or other equipment used for drugs, tattoos, body piercing and/or steroids; or had a sexually transmitted disease, as well as for anyone who has had a partner who participated in any of these behaviors.
For more information, those interested can call Murphy toll free at (877) 440-2761.
They meet her at health centers and other spots from Brookings to Reedsport.
They come, not by the dozen, but one by one.
The testing is free, sponsored by the Roseburg-based HIV Resource Center. There are no needles. The testing is anonymous. The goal is to let people know whether they might have the virus that causes AIDS.
"This is not a gay disease. It's not a black disease. It's not a sex worker disease," said Murphy, who's the Resource Center's outreach worker.
HIV/AIDS can infect anyone.
Right now, 13 to 24-year-olds are the highest infection group, according to Murphy. The CDC reports half of all new HIV infections occur in people younger than 25, although by breaking the statistics differently IV drug users and men who have sex with men represent the largest proportion of new infections.
The testing is simple.
Murphy takes a cotton swab from a person's mouth. She gets her results in seven to 10 days, but doesn't release the information to the individuals until she swings back down the coast on her monthly HIV testing loop. To maintain confidentially, she won't release results by phone.
"It's illegal," she said.
Murphy's goal is to have rapid tests available by the end of the year, enabling her to give people the results within 20 minutes. The FDA approved the tests in March and reported it considers the tests 99 percent accurate. The challenge for Murphy and her organization in getting the quick tests is money.
The Resource Center was funded through a two-year Centers for Disease Control grant that ended in April. It's survived off of various other grants, and Murphy said the nonprofit is pursuing more funding to carry out its mission.
"I don't want to give up these little coastal places," she said.
For now, the plans are to continue stopping at the South Coast spots monthly. Upcoming free HIV testing days are scheduled at the following times:
Aug. 12
- Coos Bay: from 3-6 p.m., South Coast Hospice Bereavement Center, 1610 Thompson Road;
Aug. 26
- Reedsport: from 3-6 p.m., Family Resource Center, 5 St. John's Way;
Aug. 27
- Port Orford: noon to 2 p.m., Curry County Health Department, 1403 U.S. Highway 101;
- Brookings: from 3-5 p.m., Curry health department, 425 Mill Beach Road.
- Gold Beach: from 6-8 p.m., Curry health department, 94235 Moore St.; and
Aug. 28
- Bandon: from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Southern Coos Specialty Clinic, 913 S.E. 11th St.
Testing is advisable for anyone who has ever had unprotected sex, shared needles or other equipment used for drugs, tattoos, body piercing and/or steroids; or had a sexually transmitted disease, as well as for anyone who has had a partner who participated in any of these behaviors.
For more information, those interested can call Murphy toll free at (877) 440-2761.
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