Free HIV testing at Chipola College
Floridan Staff Writer
Published: November 20, 2009
Shouldn’t you be positive that you’re negative? As a part of a four day celebration for AIDS awareness, Jackson County Health Department and BASIC of NWFL Inc. will be hosting a free HIV testing day Monday, Nov. 30 from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. at Chipola College. The testing will be in the health science building, lobby D.
Along with the free HIV testing, both organizations will also be providing free information on the HIV virus, pre-test counseling and incentives for getting tested. Prizes will range from hand sanitizers to iPods.
The test being used, OraSure, is a needle-free exam and is nothing more than a mouth swab. It tests for HIV antibodies which would be present in the tissue of the gums and cheek if an HIV infection were present, and requires two weeks to receive results.
“Out of 67 counties in Florida, Jackson County is tied for sixth in the amount of HIV positive persons with a total of 1.6 percent of the tested population infected with HIV,” said Rick Vitale, an official with the Jackson County Health Department.
“There is certainly a necessity for the free testing and we encourage the community to take full advantage and join us in the recognition of AIDS awareness and World AIDS Day, Dec. 1.“
First observed in 1988, World AIDS Day was initiated by health ministers worldwide who called for greater awareness of HIV and AIDS on an international scale. Today it is a day of recognition and remembrance.
This year’s World AIDS Day theme, “I AM“, is designed to underscore the importance of human rights and is dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of the HIV infection.
BASIC of NWFL Inc. is a community based organization dedicated to aiding residents of northwest Florida living with HIV or AIDS. It plans to mark World AIDS DAY with a four days of events.
One traditional event held during these four days is the candlelight vigil and reading the names of those whose lives were lost to AIDS. This event will be held on Tuesday Dec. 1 at 6 p.m. at McKenzie Park in Panama City.
BASIC of NWFL offers a number of services to residents in need, some of which are free. Services include case management, compassion programs, education, housing, support groups and programs that help with the cost of treatment and medication.
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Mat 7:1 Judge not, that ye be not judged. Mat 7:2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. Mat 7:3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Mat 7:4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Mat 7:5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.
Mat 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Mat 7:16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
Joh 8:7 So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.
Jboy, I would not go as far as lolz and say that you are ignorant. However it is clear that you lack the level of intelligence and compassion that GOD gave the common mule or grub worm. You are crude and seemingly heartless. While you may have some factual information here your delivery is poor and taken as more of an attack than an attempt to educate. Try working on your delivery and you may see more people agree with you. A “teaspoon of sugar” if you will. Just a suggestion. Now I would like to know if your name is actually spelled Jesus or are you using the name in a sacrilegious manner?
How can my ignorance perpetuate the range of AIDS and rate of infection? I am not doing anything to encourage it. Other people are.
I would like to see it wiped out, but it will never go away as long as there is a method of transmission.
There are two ways to get infected.
You get AIDS as a result of poor choice (on purpose), or coming in physical contact with contaminated bodily fluids carrying the infection. That could be in the womb.
I could touch oozing pus filled AIDS sores and rub my eye and get infected, but you would be the one that brought it to me and spread it.
Anyone could easily get AIDS. It could happen without your knowledge and you wouldn’t know about it for a long time, but it would have to come from somebody before it got to you and it started in Africa.
It is even possible to be born with AIDS, so the responsibility for transmission, spreading and infecting would be with the parents, if that can be determined.
Those parents should be arrested for attempted murder because the child will die of AIDS with 100% certainty if something doesn’t come along and kill it first.
What do your numbers say for the incidence of AIDS found in out of wedlock babies and babies from married familial couples?
At least sometimes people with AIDS stick together with each other since they already have it. They might as well spend the rest of their short lives together instead of spreading their disease around. They have nothing to lose and there is no risk! I am all for that.
They are ignorant to spread it and more ignorant to get infected in the first place.
Your uncited information source (state your legitimate source here) is not talking about new infections, you are talking about people that were infected 2 decades ago which puts them in the mid life age range. That makes perfect sense.
The worst outbreak with white people is in South Africa - the continent where it all started. That too makes sense, but now it is here. It should have stayed there.
It is too late for those people that got infected 20 years ago. If they don’t dies of something else, they will die from AIDS or AIDS related complications.
Jesus is my name, not my life.
wow, JesusBoy. you certainly don’t mirror the love and compassion of the One you’ve named yourself after. and you also help to prove a great point - it is ignorance of AIDS/HIV like yours that perpetuates its range and rate of infection. the rate of AIDS/HIV is not highest in “foreigners”, as you would wish it to be, it is, in fact, highest in the US in white people over the age of 55. most in the medical field theorize that this is so because older people (probably like yourself) believe things like AIDS cannot effect them. they also believe it can be attributed in part to the older white male community; men who’ve never come out publicly out of shame, so they keep their sexual habits secret and therefore don’t acknowledge the possibility of the spread of STDs. and by the way - you aboslutely cannot get HIV by simply touching someone who has it. in closing. you’re an ignorant, hateful douche bag, and i’m sure Jesus is quite embarrassed by you.
I don’t need some test to be positive I am negative.
If somebody is not positive they are negative, then any doubts are a result of their own poor choices. It would certainly not be some accident if they are positive.
Handing out iPods? Why don’t you hand out condoms instead? An iPod will not help the spread of this disease.
What maroon would show up to get a free AIDS test? Would you (as an official tester) even want to touch a suspicious person and possibly come down with the disease yourself?
You could have all the testers be HIV positive in the first place so they would not care if they got infected or not.
I think I would rather stay in a closet someplace with my shame.
“World AIDS Day”?
How about “World Boy I am Stupid Day”
Jackson County may be high on the list but Dade country is in first in Florida.
Why is that? It is the closest thing to Cuba which is part of the portal that bring infections diseases into this country.
Where are the most cases in the country?
Look at the states with the most illegal immigrants and you will find the states with the highest percentage of fatal and infections diseases.
California, Texas, New York, Florida - all havens for illegal and disease infested parasites coming into America.
AIDS did not start in America, it started in Africa with simians (monkeys).
AIDS has only been in America for about 20 years.
It was brought here by humans coming from Africa. How humans got some monkey disease is not hard to imagine.
It sure is spreading amongst certain cultures and there is no cure.
Prevention is the answer, there is no cure. There is treatment to prolong the life of infected people. That leads to more infections.
Why do minority populations have the highest incidence of AIDS?
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