LASS Launch Confidential Rapid HIV Testing
30th May 2009
LASS Launch Confidential Rapid HIV Testing in the Community.
Put your mind at ease – know your HIV Status. From June 1st it is really easy and quick to know your status – by taking a Rapid HIV Test at LASS.
The Free, Confidential, Rapid Testing service will be launched on Monday 1st June. Test results are available within a few minutes. We offer a service that no-one else can at the moment – a friendly community location, away from the hospital or clinic, where you can get a confidential HIV test. We have HIV positive people who can talk to you if your test indicates you have HIV – someone who understands because they have been in the same situation.
Current statistics estimate that 30% of people who have HIV are undiagnosed. So we are committed to help change that number – by offering an alternative approach to testing and making rapid testing easier to access.
The Sexual Health Coordinator, who is setting up the service at LASS says “Last Tuesday 17 of us took the test here at LASS – to practise using the kits as well as to determine our status. Perhaps a record number of simultaneous tests in Leicester? We are hoping that we will have a queue of people for the test once the service is established. It’s something everyone who is sexually active should do. We look after other aspects of our health so why not our sexual health”.
Tim Rideout, Chief Executive of NHS Leicester City, added “Early diagnosis of HIV has got a number of advantages for patients. It can help prevent them developing AIDS, as well as helping to ensure that the infection is not passed onto others. The sooner an individual is diagnosed with HIV the quicker treatment can begin, and with that comes a higher likelihood of a better prognosis. We welcome the introduction of this service and would encourage as many sexually active people as possible to take the test.”
Contact LASS on 0116 255 9995 to make an appointment, you only have to give a first name.
