Free HIV Testing - Sites and Times

WHY GET TESTED?
AIDS is a frightening disease, but today there are new therapies and approaches that are keeping many people with HIV healthy.

The first and most important step you can take is to find out whether you’ve been exposed to HIV. Once you know your HIV status, there are many choices you have to make that will keepyou healthy.

AIDS Help offers free HIV testing at a number of test sites and times, as well as pre-arranged appointments 5 days a week. We offer both OraQuick Advance rapid testing (results in 20 minutes) and OraSure testing (results in two weeks).

Neither OraQuick Advance nor OraSure requires a needle or blood draw. They are administered with a simple oral fluid sample.

Current testing times offered by AHI education staff are as follows:

FREE HIV Testing Locations Anonymous/Confidential All Oral tests performed - no needles.
Monday - Friday Gordon Rollins Center (Luani Plaza) 9am - 5pm 1434 Kennedy Dr., Key West
Monday
Trinity Presbyterian Church 717 Simonton St. (Fellowship Hall) Key West	12pm-5pm
Tuesday
Metropolitan Community Church 1215 Petronia St., Key West	11am-2pm
Gordon Rollins Center (Luani Plaza) 1434 Kennedy Dr., Key West	5pm-6pm
First Baptist Church Community Dinner Mile Marker 81.2, Islamorada	5pm-8pm
Fisherman’s Hospital 3301 Overseas Hwy., Marathon 2nd & 4th Tuesday of each month	1pm-5pm
Wednesday
Fisherman’s Hospital 3301 Overseas Hwy., Marathon	Noon-3pm
Gay and Lesbian Community Center 513 Truman Ave., Key West	6pm-8pm
St. James Missonary Baptist Church 312 Olivia St., Key West 1st and 3rd Wednesday of each month	9am - noon
Martin Luther King Community Pool 300 Catherine St., Key West 2nd and 4th Wednesday of each month	5pm-7pm
Thursday
Coral City Elks 1107 Whitehead St., Key West 2nd and 4th Thursday of each month	6:30-8pm

To speak to a counselor or obtain additional information, call 296-6196 or 293-3669.

Having HIV and having AIDS is not the same thing. HIV is a virus that attacks the immune system, eventually leading to a range of illnesses that are called acquired immune deficiency syndrome, or AIDS. You can have HIV and remain healthy, but without treatment, most people get sick.

An HIV-antibody blood test is commonly used to see whether you’ve been exposed to the virus. This test looks for HIV antibodies, special proteins that the body produces to fight HIV. Other tests measure HIV antibodies in urine and saliva. Most HIV-antibody tests use the ELISA method of detection that is 99% accurate. A more sensitive Western blot test is used to confirm a positive result.

A positive test result means you’ve been exposed to HIV; it doesn’t mean you have AIDS. If you test positive, you should plan to see a doctor familiar with HIV and consider other tests for HIV and treatment options.

A negative test means you haven’t been exposed to the virus OR that it’s too early to tell. It takes from two weeks to six months for antibodies to develop after a person is exposed to HIV. A negative result doesn’t protect you against future infection.

Counseling is an important part of getting an HIV test. Trained counselors at the above phone numbers locally can address your fears and help you prepare for getting the results.

Frequent testing is also advisable. Let’s face it, folks. We live in a very sexually charged environment. When any of us sleeps with an out-of-towner, we sleep with everyone they’ve slept with across this country.

We want our younger generation to grow up healthy and we want our older generation around to pass on the knowledge and experience that will help to preserve our paradise.

That’s the ultimate answer to the question “Why get tested?”