Free HIV testing available across Columbus
Several Columbus agencies are offering free HIV testing Wednesday in recognition of National HIV Testing Day. Walgreens, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Equitas Health, the National African American Male Wellness Initiative, and Nationwide Children’s Hospital are all offering testing and education.
One of the testing locations, Out of the Closet, a Short North thrift store that benefits the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, offers yearround free testing for HIV. Testing is especially important “just so people can know their status,” said Jacob Shrimplin, the store’s assistant manager.
According to Columbus Public Health, there were about 5,000 people in Franklin County living with HIV as of 2016. You can be tested Wednesday at these locations: • Columbus Public Health Take Care Down There Clinic, 240 Parsons Ave., 1-5 p.m. • Walgreens, 3583 E. Broad St., 1280 Demorest Rd., 10 a.m.-7 p.m. • Equitas Health, 4400 N. High
HIV is an incurable virus. It’s transmitted through sexual contact, blood, saliva and semen. Following infection, the first signs of infection mimic flu-like symptoms: low-grade fever, fatigue and muscle aches.
“It could go years after that before they start developing some of the opportunistic infections,” said Mysheika Williams Roberts, Columbus health commissioner.
Opportunistic infections are those that an individual tends to get when the body’s immune system isn’t at 100 percent — such as Kaposi’s St., 9 a.m.-5 p.m. • Out of the Closet, 1230 N. High St., 10 a.m.-7 p.m. • African American Male Wellness Initiative, 740 E. Long St., 6-8 p.m. sarcoma, a type of skin cancer, Roberts said.
Between 2012 and 2016, 2013 had the most new diagnoses of HIV in Ohio at 1,054, according to a 2017 Ohio Department of Public Health report. The number of females infected with the virus also increased 3 percent between 2014 and 2016.
The leading cause of transmission for females was heterosexual contact. The leading cause of transmission for males was male-tomale sexual contact, yet the number of overall new diagnoses for transmissions between men declined 17 percent between 2013 and 2016, the report found.
Black men and women were affected more frequently by HIV than their white counterparts, according to the report.
DeVeonne White, of the African American Male Wellness Initiative, attributed the higher numbers among certain populations to people not talking frankly about sex.
“It’s our responsibility to make sure we’re offering something for the community where they feel safe,” said White, the group’s screening and volunteer national coordinator.
These days, living with HIV is more like living with a chronic disease — and not the death sentence it once was, Roberts said.
Through a partnership with the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Out of the Closet has certified counselors available in a separate area at the back of the store who can provide testing and education, including on how to prevent transmission.
Prevention methods include using condoms and pills that can protect against HIV called PrEp for pre-exposure prophylaxis. The medication has been shown to cut the risk of HIV infection by at least 92 percent when taken daily.
Treatment costs should not keep someone from getting care, Roberts said.
Insurance covers treatment, and a federal program called the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program funds local and state groups to make services affordable and accessible to people without insurance, she said.