OFFICIALS PROMOTE HIV TESTING TODAY

Today is National HIV Testing Day, and the Missouri Department of Health is promoting HIV testing as an important step in controlling AIDS.

Its purpose is to encourage all at-risk Missourians to test for the HIV virus, which leads to AIDS.

The Missouri Department of Health suggests people be tested if they are sexually active with partners of unknown HIV status; have ever injected IV drugs; are pregnant and are at risk for HIV infection; or have received a blood transfusion, blood components or tissue prior to 1985.

For more than nine years the Cape Girardeau County Public Health Center has performed HIV testing in the region. Charlotte Craig, the center's director, said the test at county health departments in the region is confidential.

"We want to raise awareness of the availability of the testing," she said. "The test is free and they are highly confidential."

No names go on the blood samples to the lab. The Health Center uses numbers to insure the privacy of those who are tested.

Those tested at the center will receive counseling before and after the test.

Craig said it is important to know why people have the test performed. "We need to identify what their risk factors are so we can work on reducing them, whether they are positive or not."

She said those who think they should be tested for HIV should do so within three months from the time of exposure.

Results come back to the center in 10 days. To preserve privacy and to promote counseling, Craig said no results are given over the phone.

"It is a rule we live by; it keeps the door open for people to come and be tested," she said.

Because resources for those who are HIV positive are limited in this area, Craig said the counseling after the test is extremely important. She said many people must go to St. Louis and other places for treatment.

Some people choose to do home testing for HIV.

A representative of the Missouri AIDS Hotline said people can call a number and receive tests by mail and the results by phone.

"But I always highly suggest they go to a medical facility for a follow-up test and counseling," the representative said. "If a person needs a test they may have already been placing themselves at risk; they need to know how to lower that risk."

Jan Wernsman, assistant director at the Cape County Public Health Center, said home tests are impersonal.

"There is a personal touch lost there," she said. "It is important to take care of the individual's needs where that type of testing can't."

Jeff Nute, executive director of the Heartland Prevention Care Network, said some counties in the Southeast Region do not have HIV testing sites.