Tuesday is National HIV Testing Day, and clinics on St. Thomas and St. Croix are offering free, confidential screening all day long.
Dr. Paul Arguin, HIV St. Thomas program director, said the number of AIDS cases in the territory is "striking," based on the islands' population. "The main problem we have is getting people to come in early enough," he said. "People are being diagnosed very late in the disease when they are already in the intensive care unit."
He added, "It is so much easier if people come in early. Then, we can keep them healthy."
Many people don't realize that a person with HIV can live a long life, Arguin stressed. "You can live with HIV, just as though you had diabetes or another chronic disease," he said. "The key is you must catch it early enough. Then, it's possible to live a normal life with regular medication."
Arguin said there are two groups of people he would like to encourage to be tested – hetereosexual women throughout the territoyr and St. Croix's large Hispanic population.
He said a woman doesn't have to have a variety of sexual partners to be at risk. She can be exposed through her regular partner.
The HIV clinic on St. Thomas is at the old municipal hospital, the stone building complex behind the Knud Hansen building. It is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The telephone is 774-3168.
On St. Croix, testing is being done in Frederiksted at the Ingeborg Nesbitt Clinic, which is open from 9 a..m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday. The phone number is 772-9501.
Nyasha Mutunhu, an HIV/AIDS specialist with the St. Thomas chapter of the American Red Cross, said further information about National HIV Testing Day can be accessed on the Internet at the website of the National Association of People with Aids – www.napwa.org.
