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First Time Testing

Submitted by editor_en on Thu, 07/10/2008 - 14:17.

As a 23 year old ‘adult’, working for the world’s largest multimedia HIV/AIDS awareness campaign, you’d think I’d be well aware of my status. It’s something that’s referenced every single day in my workplace; you get tested and know your status… Someone like me must practice what I preach, right?

Well… unfortunately if you thought that, you’d be wrong… Up until a month ago that is.

Now I consider myself to be very, very lucky. Last month I got the opportunity to travel around Africa to visit some of the truly fantastic HIV awareness projects that are funded by the Staying Alive Foundation. Over an impossibly hectic five day period, I visited three African countries and met people from five different SAF projects.

Arriving at the VCT Centre at the Kenyatta National Hospital (Nairobi) on day number three, I thought it was about time that I took some time out of the hectic schedule and got myself tested.

To be honest, I felt a bit embarrassed that this was my first ever HIV test at the age of 23. Sitting in the testing room, I was suddenly confronted with the fact that technically, I was one of those people who thought they were unaffected by HIV and AIDS. Sure, I’d had STD tests before, but for some reason, I’d never felt the need to be tested for HIV. As soon as this rather ugly thought dawned on me, I was even more keen to take the test and know my status.

The whole process took a maximum of thirty minutes; a chat with the nurse before the test, the actual test itself (a very quick and painless pin prick to the finger to those of you who were wondering) and a chat with the nurse after the test, and that was that.

And now I know my status. The ease and speed of the whole thing certainly made me wonder why I hadn’t taken the test before. Now I can say that I’ve taken responsibility for finding out my status, and I’ve acknowledged the importance of such an act.

If you’ve had ever had unprotected sex (maybe the condom broke or maybe you were overtaken by the moment …) then unfortunately YOU’VE PUT YOURSELF AT RISK. It doesn’t matter what country you live in, and it doesn’t matter how old you are. If you are one of those people living your life thinking that HIV doesn’t affect you, then please, please, please, change your attitude. Get yourself tested and know your status. I think you’ll feel quite proud of yourself if you do :)

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