It’s HIV Testing Week and I don’t want to be someone who preaches to others about sexual health without going to the bother of getting myself checked out. So today I popped along to the Terrence Higgins Trust in Brighton and got tested.
What’s amazing is that it only took ten minutes, was totally painless, and everyone I met was super-nice and really helpful.
All this explains why HIV infection rates are falling in the UK. But guess which group is falling the slowest? You might be surprised to know that it’s white straight women.
The team I met today told me about a young guy they are supporting who contracted HIV the first time he had sex, and that happened to be with a woman his own age.
Newly divorced women are now in a high risk group and the problem is that no-one seems to know this – so please share this and spread the word.
It’s worth discussing this because HIV is still heavily associated with the gay community in our minds but in reality anyone who has unprotected sex with a partner who’s status you cannot be sure of is at risk and should be getting tested pretty regularly.
The good news is that if you’re diagnosed early you’ll have the same chances of a healthy and long life as everyone else and if you take your meds as prescribed will be unable to pass it on to anyone else.
You know what this all means…it’s worth getting tested, and quickly.
It’s so easy. If you live in Brighton and Hove check out this page and get tested when you’re next passing, please!