Friday, November 14, 1997
Due to state budget cuts, UCLA’s Sexual Health Center will now
charge people
for HIV testingBy Teresa Jun
Daily Bruin Contributor
Getting tested for HIV at UCLA just got a lot harder.
For the past 10 years, UCLA Sexual Health Services Center
offered free anonymous testing to the public. However,due to recent
budget cuts in state funding, the center can no longer provide this
invaluable service for free. In order to continue to offer its
testing and counseling services, the center must now charge $45 per
person to cover costs such as lab fees and part-time staffing.
The center introduced this steep fee in September, when it began
feeling the pinch of the funding cut, a decision made in June.
As of June 30, the center and many other HIV testing clinics
throughout California stopped receiving their shares of the $1.6
million grant, as a result of Gov. Pete Wilson’s line-item
veto.
These funds will now most likely be reallocated to other areas
in AIDS health issues, such as research or medicine, explained
Sydney Hardy, the center’s Project Director for STD/HIV
Education/Prevention & Outreach.
Since the $45 fee went into effect, workers at the center have
observed dramatic changes.
"We’ve noticed a significant decrease in the number of people
coming in for testing because they have to pay $45 now," said
Hardy. Prior to the incident, the testing was free, with an
optional donation of $5.
"This time last year, we had over 500 people come in for
testing. This year, we’ve seen a little over 300," she added.
Though the fixed fee is $45, Hardy emphasizes the flexibility of
their program. When an individual comes in to get tested and admits
to a sincere financial hardship, the fee may be reduced to $20. If
$20 still poses a problem, the center may give the test for $10, or
$5, or even for free in the most desperate situations.
"We’re here to help people, and we’re not going to turn anyone
away," Hardy explained. "If their financial situation is really
tough, we’ll see them for free."
Workers at the center seemed to have reached a general
consensus. Although they feel that the broader issues addressed by
Wilson’s fund reallocation are certainly important, the center
feels that focus on people at an individual level is also just as
important.
"We’re working at the local, community level," said Jeff
McNairy, an HIV/STD/birth control counselor at the center. "We’re
working with the individuals, the people who are freaking out
(because they don’t know their HIV status)."
So, to accommodate as many people as possible in the most
accessible way, representatives from the center are now attempting
to improve its situation.
"We are currently looking into other avenues of funding," Hardy
said. With the slow progress of this effort, she admits that it
will be difficult to find reliable alternative resources. "We don’t
foresee any future funding coming real soon," Hardy added.
Despite their difficulty attaining alternative funding, Hardy
maintains a strong attitude. "We’re not going to give up," she
said. "There’s still a need for testing. There’s still a need for
education. There’s still a risk out there for everyone,
particularly college-aged youths."
Though the center offers testing for all people in the community
who are interested, because of its Westwood location and UCLA
affiliation, a good number of people getting tested happen to be
UCLA students.
Because of the large student turn-out for testing, Hardy hopes
that soon the center will be able to reduce testing fees to
$20.
"This will be good especially for the students, who may not have
$45 to just spend on a test," Hardy explained. "We’re hoping that
at least reducing the fee will give easier access to everyone."
Despite the dilemma that the center now faces because of lack of
funding, a representative from UCLA Student Health Service suggests
that the problem is not that grave.
People who find the $45 fee too expensive can go to other
clinics in the southern California area, some of which even offer
free testing, according to an anonymous HIV counselor from Student
Health Service. Such clinics exist in Venice, Manhattan and Santa
Monica.
UCLA students have another option much closer to home. The
Student Health Service offers anonymous or confidential HIV testing
for students for $17.25.
However, despite these alternative options, the lack of funding
for the center still poses serious problems in reaching some
aspects of the community.
"There are two kinds of people out there that we (as an HIV
testing service) can’t reach because of this funding cut," McNairy
explained. "First, there are those people who engage in low-risk
sexual behavior and wouldn’t normally go in for a test, but decide
to get tested anyway just because it’s free and anonymous."
"Then there’s the second group of people," the counselor added,
"who really are scared and feel they have been exposed to the virus
and are freaking out because they don’t know their status, but they
just don’t have the money to get tested."
One of the advantages of an anonymous testing service such as
the center, as opposed to a confidential system, is that people are
not identified by name in the test results. In a confidential
system, the person’s name is attached to the HIV test results in
the clinic’s private record files. Though identified as
confidential records, clinics admit that certain groups like
insurance companies can gain access to these private files in the
future.
The center, as opposed to most other clinics, also "provides
in-depth sexual health education that clients may not receive from
the doctor’s office or many health education programs," Hardy
said.
The center focuses on providing a comfortable environment for
people to come, get tested and find out their HIV status without
anyone ever having to know about it. If they test positive, they
are encouraged to come back for counseling, education and
support.
"We try to provide ways for people to get tested without making
it a crime if they test positive," Hardy added. "That’s what people
are afraid of."
In addition to its personal counseling services, the center also
offers another unique dimension. They participate in education
programs, visiting local west Los Angeles schools to teach youths
about HIV and other lesser-known STDs.
The center also offers protective sexual devices, such as
condoms and dental dams for extremely low prices. The Center sells
30 condoms for $5, as opposed to most convenience store prices of 3
for $5.
"We’re helping people to make a behavior change (and practice
safer sex)," Hardy said. "So we want to make it easier for them,
not harder because it’s more expensive."
"We’re just trying to help out everyone on these real sensitive
issues as tactfully as we can," McNairy said.
But with financial hardships brought on by the budget cut, the
center is finding the task harder to accomplish.
"We can’t keep continuing this way (without funding)," Hardy
said.
RACHEL FACTOR
Vials of samples wait to be tested for the presence of the HIV
virus.RACHEL FACTOR
The UCLA Sexual Health Services Center offers testing and
assistance for people who test positive for HIV.