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Don't? Guess? Test! wants you to get tested...at home
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Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes-Norton shows support
There is a new campaign starting in DC with a bang. The Don’t? Guess? Test! Campaign is being introduced by Brad Olgilvie, Program Coordinator of the William Penn House in Southeast DC. The campaign is aiming to make HIV testing more accessible to residents. The campaign is also focusing on reducing the stigma attached to HIV/AIDS. The campaign kicked off with a press conference on Tuesday, June 9th. The campaign will promote knowing your status, increasing mobile testing units, and distributing self-administered HIV/AIDS testing kits.
Dont? Guess? Test! will partner with local organizations to get the word out about getting tested at home. “We need a better system. The current system is not ahead of where HIV is but two or three years behind HIV. We need people to know their status” says Ogilvie. The campaign will encourage people to get tested. The self-administered home based testing kits are controversial. There are many concerns surrounding the validity of the test results and how follow up counseling will be addressed. Olgivie suggests that offering people the option of taking the test at home may offer solice to people who are not comfortable with going to a public clinic for testing. “We need to give people options. Options spur creativity. When we have creativity, we get a whole bunch of new answers.”
The campaign wants to lower the fear about being HIV positive. They want people to be encouraged and know that being HIV positive does not necessarily equal death. Olgivie states “their plan [organizations that are designed to fight HIV] is to target the high risk groups. Once again we’re playing the stigma game. We need to erase the stigma.” The Don’t? Guess? Test! predicts that they will increase the number of people that know their status in one year. The more people get tested, the less the stigma will be. It will take getting the local non-profits to ban together and help everyone get tested, regardless to which ward they live.
One major supporter of the Don’t? Guess? Test! Campaign is Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes-Norton. Congresswoman Holmes-Norton, who is known for having free HIV testing at all of her public events, states “there is something wrong with our approach. Don’t? Guess? Test! is trying to reach people where they are.” Holmes-Norton maintains that the District, like many other cities with a large population of African-Americans, have a crisis that must be addressed in a way that people can relate. Using media services such as the Internet, radio, and television is a sure way to reach a wider audience.
The campaign will continue with a town hall meeting scheduled for Tuesday, June 23rd. On June 24th there will be a a Public Awareness Campaign where there will be an unveiling of the latest mobile testing units and distribution of home testing kits for the first time in DC. These events will lead up to National HIV Testing Day on Saturday, June 27th. “You don’t empower people by taking away their options. You empower them by giving them options.”
For more information on the Don't? Guess? Test! campaign, the events, and time/locations, go to www.dontguess-test.com or visit Pastiche Group, LLC at www.pastichegroup.com
Get tested. Get care. Get a condom.
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