A free HIV testing event for men, Protect and Love Manila, will be offered on November 29 by The Loveyourself Inc.
The non-government organization (NGO) assures those who are joining the event of discretion and confidentiality. To ensure utmost confidentiality, no IDs will be required. Aliases/pet names can be used for the event.
Photo credit: The Loveyourself Inc.
According to Dwight Anderson, project mentor and volunteer for the NGO, they are aiming for at least 1200 sign-ups, especially because, based on previous experience, only around a third of these sign-ups will actually join the event.
Absolutely free HIV testing
Participants are provided with free HIV testing – they are not going to shell out a single centavo during the event, Anderson assured.
This is made possible by their sponsors, the DOH-RITM (Research Institute of Topical Medicine), Protect The Goal Foundation-Azkals, and Victoria Court.
The participants are invited to sign-up at http://go.loveyourself.ph/protectandlove or simply go to Victoria Court North EDSA, anytime from 12 noon to 9pm of November 29, Saturday.
Results are expected in two hours, so it would be ideal for participants to arrive early.
Utmost confidentiality is our priority. Currently, The Loveyourself Inc. team has 500 volunteers coming from all walks of life and all our counselors are trained within the organization with the help of RITM (Research Institute of Topical Medicine) Alabang.
Our counselors have gone through SET (Self Empowerment Training) and CAT (Change Agent Training) to address the needs of each participant. I headed the first Mass Testing this year, the event title is “BoomPaTest” and for last quarter of this year is it “Protect and Love Manila”.
Process flow for Protect and Love Manila
Registration (the names of the participants will be encoded in the system, codenames/petnames are accepted at this point)
Once the clients/participants are done with registration, they will be escorted to the HIV 101 room. This is where the participants are educated on proper knowledge about HIV, how it is transmitted and how it can be prevented. Proper condom use, etc.
Group facilitation. Participants are gathered here for hearty discussions on their sexual practice and are voluntarily allowed to open up and share their thoughts about HIV in groups. Of course they are given the chance to talk and can opt not to if they are uncomfortable. People at this point will be given enough knowledge on proper/positive sexual attitude.
HIV result. This is a one on one session with the counselor and the participant/client. Proper counseling is given to people. This is the moment of truth. Result will indicate if they are reactive or non-reactive to the virus.
HIV/AIDS is a serious medical condition which should not be easily dismissed, especially in today’s modern society. Issues like AIDS are less discussed because of the stigma associated with the disease.
However, it is also important for a person to know whether one is suffering from AIDS so as to prevent further spread of this medical condition to new partners.