THE Red Ribbon Project will mark Irish Aids Day this week by holding free HIV tests in Limerick this Thursday, June 12.
The Davis Street-based organisation was established in 1989 to provide education, training and support around the areas of gender, orientation, sexual health and HIV/ Aids. And to mark Irish Aids Days, which takes place this Sunday, June 15, they are offering free rapid HIV tests.
Rapid HIV testing has only recently been introduced to Ireland by Dr Shay Keating and the Gay Men’s Health Project. The test uses saliva or a pin prick of blood and the results are available within 20 minutes.
The Red Ribbon Project is working with the STI clinic at the Regional Hospital so that anyone with a reactive result can be immediately referred there for a confirmation test and medical care.
Red Ribbon Manager Ann Mason believes it is vitally important that people know their HIV status.
‘Of particular concern are the high figures amongst gay and bisexual men in their twenties and early thirties. There is a need for a national campaign to educate them about how they can protect themselves from HIV infection,” she said.
6,979 people have been diagnosed with HIV in Ireland since the 1980s.
Anyone interested in booking an appointment for a Free Rapid HIV Test should contact Red Ribbon Project on 061-314 354 or email admin@redribbonproject.com.
