Free HIV testing available
Free HIV testing will be available in Memorial Union N214 tomorrow from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Dustin Hampton, education and testing coordinator for the Regional AIDS Interfaith Network, said the testing will continue roughly every other week throughout the fall semester.
“We want to give the opportunity to people who may not be able to make it to the office to come get tested,” Hampton said. “We’re not expecting a huge turnout, maybe five or 10 people for that day, but over several days throughout the semester, if we have five or 10 people show up every day, that’s a lot.”
Hampton said RAIN is working with MU’s Sexual Health Advocate Peer Education group. Their goal is to be accessible and be there for people who want to get tested, but also to raise awareness and help students be aware of their own health.
“From January to July 2009, Boone County has had 514 cases of Chlamydia, 106 cases if Gonorrhea, and 8 cases of Syphilis,” Hampton stated in an e-mail. “These numbers are provisional, as some lag occurs with reporting of cases.”
Hampton said that the numbers only represent diagnosed cases, and that it is reasonable to assume that there are as many undiagnosed cases as diagnosed cases.
RAIN is offering testing on college campuses because studies show a majority of new HIV cases are people under the age of 25.
“They’re more sexually active,” Hampton said. “They have more partners. But it can happen to every population, every group, every person.”
Hampton said there will also be testing in the spring.