Tapestry Health offers quick and easy HIV test
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Bob Reardon, the Assistant Director of HIV Prevention Services at Tapestry helps Helen Caulton-Harris with her rapid HIV test.
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By Courtney Llewellyn, Reminder Assistant Editor
SPRINGFIELD - "It was very simple," said Helen Caulton-Harris, Director of the Springfield Department of Health and Human Services, in response to the question, "How was your test?"
Caulton-Harris volunteered to be tested for HIV on June 27 as part of National HIV Testing Day at Tapestry Health on Mulberry Street. Representative Benjamin Swan was tested as well.
Information provided at the testing site included some shocking statistics. One of every three people in Massachusetts who are HIV positive do not know their status. Holyoke and Springfield rank second and fourth in the state, respectively, for new HIV infection rates.
Western Massachusetts also has the highest percentage of women diagnosed with HIV in the state.
"In Springfield, black residents make up 30% of 123 recent infection cases," Swan stated. "There are 280 black residents living here with HIV or AIDS. It is time for us to do everything we can to highlight and stop the heavy toll the disease is taking on communities of color."
Both Caulton-Harris and Swan were tested by the swab method, using an absorbent pad to swipe against the upper and lower outer gums in their mouths. The swabs were then placed in a solution, and within 20 minutes, they received the results of their tests.
"My last test was four years ago, for insurance purposes," Caulton-Harris said. "They had to take blood for that one. The swab method is wonderful."
The swab test is more than 99 percent accurate, according to the FDA.
"It's important to get tested early and often," said Leslie Laurie, President of Tapestry Health.
Tapestry Health was the first organization to implement the rapid HIV test in Western Massachusetts, and this year was the first time the rapid test was available on National HIV Testing Day.
"We're encouraging people to get tested and get answers," Laurie said.
Swan fully supports the program. "I am pleased to be part of a statewide effort...to focus on the disparities in health-care that results in the disproportionate impact the disease is having on blacks and Latino residents," he announced in a press release. He urged others to get tested "in order to learn their status so they can avoid infection, seek proper health-care and avoid spreading the disease to others."
For more information on HIV testing, visit www.mass.gov/dph.
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