The UC San Diego School of Medicine announced yesterday that an official HIV testing center is now open at the corner of University and Park in Hillcrest.
The center aims to promote the Lead the Way Campaign’s “test and treat” HIV prevention model, the first of its kind in the world – and campaign officials have recruited local role models to help spread the word about the center and encourage participation from LGBT people and heterosexual individuals alike throughout the San Diego community.
The storefront-style testing center will supplement door-to-door mobile testing efforts (beginning in June) and help bolster the Lead the Way campaign’s attempt to find out how communities respond to readily available testing resources.
San Diego’s 16 Lead the Way role models, all selected from the 92103 and 92104 area codes of the city and intended to bring a hyper-local face to the San Diego campaign, will undergo testing and then take part in a variety of promotional activities to bring awareness to the center. The role models will also be featured in billboard and bus shelter ads throughout the area surrounding the center.
Susan Little, MD, lead researcher for Lead the Way and a professor of medicine at UCSD Medical Center’s Division of Infectious Diseases, explained that the organization is “asking the community to take advantage of this opportunity to support the campaign and get involved.”
Little added that she and other organizers of the campaign want the San Diego community to feel comfortable participating in Lead the Way efforts and realize the opportunity available to locals in pioneering the “test and treat” model for the rest of the world.
The center is located at 3830 Park Blvd. and will provide free ten-minute finger prick HIV tests throughout the week, Monday through Friday, from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. Anyone wishing to participate in the campaign without taking the test can fill out an optional survey for the sake of improving HIV testing services and efficacy.
How can we get the survey? Is it online?
Hi Jorge –
We are working on getting the survey up online. But in the mean time, you can just stop in at 3830 Park Blvd (The Eqyptian) and tell them you would like to take the survey. It is all computerized on iPads and takes just a few minutes. If you choose to, you can also get a free HIV test as well, no appointment necessary. We also have hours on Saturdays from 10:00am to 4:00pm.
Thanks
Beth, Lead the Way Staff