The UCLA AIDS Institute will be administering free rapid HIV testing today as part of World AIDS Day, but anticipates not being able to accommodate everyone who wishes to get tested.
Last year, campus turnout for free HIV testing exceeded organizers’ expectations – about 200 people were tested, but others were turned away.
This year, “we’re much better prepared because we know now what to expect, but we’re quite certain we’re going to disappoint some people,” said Edwin Bayrd, executive director of the UCLA AIDS Institute, which is sponsoring the event.
He estimates about 200 to 300 people will be able to get tested today, as part of the World AIDS Day campaign to promote testing for and protection from the disease.
The UCLA AIDS Institute plans to have two mobile HIV testing vans on campus today – one from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Bruin Plaza, and one from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. behind Sproul Hall on Charles E. Young Drive.
“In an ideal world, we’d have 20 vans, but there’s no place for them, and there’s not that many vans in the whole city,” Bayrd said.
Though not all students who want to get tested tomorrow may be accommodated, students should be aware of other free testing options, he said.
Students who are turned away will be given a list of places to go instead.
The Arthur Ashe Student Health and Wellness Center, which offers free anonymous or confidential HIV testing to UCLA students year round, “is always an option,” said Ragini Sarma, director of UCLA AIDS Awareness for the Student Welfare Commission.
Sarma said there are also many options for immediate testing elsewhere in West Los Angeles, but the Ashe Center is “the most accessible to students.”
The Ashe Center currently administers about 1,200 to 1,900 HIV tests every year.
“We could handle the volume,” said Evelyn Desser, a nurse practitioner at the Ashe Center, who encourages students to take advantage of the free laboratory-grade testing done at the center.
“We can’t make the same kind of splash (as the mobile testing vans), but we hope the entire day reminds people to think about the larger issue,” she said.
Ultimately, the goal beyond just getting tested is to learn about lowering the risk of contracting HIV, Desser said.
The event will offer two types of rapid tests: a noninvasive oral swab as well as a pinprick blood test, both of which will produce results in half an hour that are 99 percent accurate, Bayrd said.
Each HIV test is preceded by a short interview and risk assessment, so each technician can only test about five or six people per hour, Bayrd said.
Students who receive positive results, however, are encouraged to get tested again at an actual lab.
“Nobody’s told they’re positive until we’re positive they’re positive,” Bayrd said.
Last year’s World’s AIDS Day campaign was the first time free anonymous HIV testing was promoted at UCLA, Bayrd said.