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Skip the candy; get the HIV test

Because knowledge is good, the county Health Department offers free HIV tests for Valentine's Day.

By COLLEEN JENKINS
Published February 12, 2005

Red roses and chocolate hearts feeling too cliche for your special someone this Valentine's Day?

The Pasco County Health Department has an unusual alternative: Free HIV testing.

It's not romantic, and doesn't exactly scream "I LOVE YOU" from the top of the Empire State building. So why choose the lover's holiday for such an offering?

Because, say local health officials, "it's better to know."

On Feb. 14, "it's kind of significant for people to be thinking of the other person involved in their sex life," said nursing director Carol Cummins. "So it's a good time for people to find out their status."

The local Health Department has held free Valentine's HIV screenings in the past and gotten good response, Cummins said.

In 2003, the latest figures available, county public health departments in Florida performed 301,461 HIV tests. Of those tests, 2.2 percent came back positive.

The tests are done with an oral swab - no needles or blood involved - and results are available about two weeks after a screening, Cummins said. If a person tests positive for HIV, the Health Department offers treatment through its clinic or will refer the person elsewhere.

A candlelight dinner and mushy chick flick it's not, but the opportunity is a bargain. The screenings normally cost $20.

"We want to make it a special offer," Cummins said. "It's like going to the store, and they're having a sale. Well, this is our sale."

Not to hang a cloud over Hallmark's most successful holiday, but amour isn't always a good thing. More than half the women and 15 percent of men diagnosed with HIV in Florida were infected through heterosexual intercourse. Sex between men accounted for 46 percent of HIV cases reported among men through 2003.

So going the untraditional gift route may be a smart idea.

"Although I would suggest they take something along with it," Cummins said. "Like a box of candy or something."

Testing will be held Monday from 9 to 11 a.m. The Health Department is located at 10841 Little Road, New Port Richey. Call (727) 869-3900, ext. 172 for more information.

[Last modified February 12, 2005, 00:25:13]