Let me take a few steps back.
There were three people in this room, and they were going to ask me all these personal questions WHILE taking my blood. I said I felt uncomfortable answering these questions in front of multiple people and thought it was supposed to be confidential and private. The woman tossed the test tube down on the counter. She turned to me with her hand on her hip, and said to me with an attitude “This is how we are going to do it.” I was blown away with her approach and asked for the manager of the facility. I don’t want to give too much away, because I plan on writing a majority of this in my paper.
As soon as I got into the car to leave the facility, I called Teach and left her a message. I was playing out the conversation I would have had with Teach, starting with, “You’re not going to BELIEVE what just happened!”
Now for our fun fact of the week pertaining to HIV and students.
Did you know?
-African-Americans were disproportionately affected by HIV infection, accounting for 55% of all HIV infections reported among young persons ages 13-24. (SADD 2007)*
That is more than half! This may be an important fact to someone who dates within this race.
*http://www.sadd.org/stats.htm#hiv
Which phone did you call? I don't remember receiving a call on my cell. And you are correct when you said I was not going to believe what just happened. I can't wait to read your paper. My only hope is that you told the manager what you think of their set up. Was this an ASO or a health department clinic, because I would be calling the head person of the state and lodging a very verbal assault.
ReplyDeleteGreat pic. Hope you are enjoying the book.
IMO, these were not “professionals” that you were dealing with. This type of practice only makes the situation worse, as some may not even go back for their test results.
ReplyDeleteWow, sorry to hear about that unfortunate situation at the clinic. My experience during my HIV test wasn't nearly as action packed as yours sounded to be, haha kidding. I went to the health center and UCF main campus, and they did a very nice job administering the test. It did cost me 15$, but it was nice to go somewhere I felt comfortable.
ReplyDeleteI dialed a number ending in ***-***-9434, whichever phone that is. It was a health department clinic. The nurse practioner, lady in charge, said they hadn't had someone come in and ask for an anonymous test in 3-4 years. That told me right there that they were clueless of the requirements for HIV testing.
ReplyDeleteThis class has been very informative for me. I've been doing a lot of research on HIV and how it is affecting the African American community and the statistics you provided were definitely accurate due to the information I received as well. This 55% is a concern to me, not only because I am African American, but it would be a concern even if it was for a different community of people.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I did want to comment on, is where you said this information should be very important to someone who is dating within this race. I believe this statistic should be important to everyone, not only the African Americans or the indiviudals dating within this race. The reason I say this is because, unprotected sex while dating is not the ONLY way to contract HIV. In fact, many people have relations with people they might not even be in a relationship with.
The point any statistic other than 0% should be important to all mankind.