To celebrate National HIV Testing Week, the LGTBQ+ Peer Support group, This is Me Salford, and BHA for Equality are hosting a pop-up HIV testing event this Friday at Pendleton Gateway.
They are encouraging people to take a 30-second test, enjoy some home-baked cakes and coffee in contrast to the typical hospital setting, which may be off-putting to some people.
Owen Power, part of the team planning the event, said: “I personally have been involved for many, many years promoting HIV awareness in Salford because it’s something I think has been neglected for a long time.
“If you’re having a healthcare review, they’d ask you about alcohol intake, diet, exercise. But would never ever say, are you testing for HIV, or how is your sexual health. They just don’t promote it.”
Mr Power, pictured on the right of the photograph, feels it’s very important to bring HIV testing out into the open. He said: “It should be treated like everything else, going for your flu jab or getting vaccinated against Covid. It should be a normal part of our health routine.”
Mr Power also hopes that this event will bring in communities who are often left out of the conversation. He said: “Many groups have been excluded from the conversation on testing.
“For example, I am deaf, and it’s often assumed that just because someone has a disability, they’re not sexually active. So there is no conversation bringing them into information on testing and how to access services.
“I think people from ethnic minorities have been often excluded from the conversation, and older people. It’s assumed they couldn’t possibly be sexually active so not encouraged to test. So we’re trying to break down barriers and get the conversation going.”
Mr Power says that there is still a stigma attached to HIV. He said: “If someone’s actually said that they’re HIV positive, I think so many people would sort of pull away.
“There is a lack of information in that sense, I think few people understand that if someone is HIV positive, and they’re on treatment, then they cannot pass on the virus.
“That is wonderful progress because when I was growing up, it was thought if someone was HIV positive, it really was the death sentence, and there was an enormous fear, but these ideas still persist.”
That’s why he thinks it’s so important for the community to talk about HIV, so that it breaks down the barriers and the stigma attached to it.
He said: “There shouldn’t be a fear of HIV or shame attached.”
If successful, organisers are hoping to run regular sessions in community centres around Salford, to connect with more people on this topic.
The session runs at Pendleton Gateway on February 10 from 10am to 3pm.
To find out more, go to the This is Me Salford facebook page.
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