Aids support group’s mobile HIV screening test offers unexpected hope
Anxious 15 minutes in van is followed by diagnosis and counselling
Spending just 15 minutes in Aids Concern’s seven-seater van could change one’s life forever as that is how long it takes to obtain the results of an HIV screening test. And for one HIV-positive patient, the knowledge of his diagnosis has convinced him that his life will get better.
Frank, 30, was confirmed to have the human immunodeficiency virus four months ago after being tested by Aids Concern. He joins a list of 8,053 HIV infections reported in the city from 1984 to June this year, according to the Centre for Health Protection.
“I used to think anyone who was infected with HIV was doomed, that they would die fast and without dignity,” he said, adding his impression came from documentaries and images he saw growing up on the mainland. “But now, here I am, feeling healthier than ever.”
Frank described “a normal morning” when he was on a mobile app and an ad popped up noting a van offering a free HIV screening test was parked only streets away from his Tseung Kwan O office.
He said he wasn’t sure why he decided to get tested, although he said it might have been because “deep down” he knew there was a chance he was HIV-positive, having been sexually active with men since he was 20.
