Politicians take fingerprick test to raise HIV awareness
WARWICK and Leamington MP Chris White did his bit to encourage more people to take a convenient new HIV test last week.
The MP, together with Warwick district councillor Glenn Williams, took the Terrence Higgins Trust’s new ‘Fastest’ at the Brunswick Healthy Living Centre last Thursday.
One in four of an estimated 5,950 West Midlands HIV carriers in 2010 are undiagnosed, but the simple finger-prick test gives results within 15 minutes, with information and support for anyone attending free and confidential sessions at the Shrubland Street centre every other Monday from 7pm to 8.30pm.
Terrence Higgins Trust regional manager Mick Mason said: “People with undiagnosed HIV are not only putting their own health at risk, they are also more likely to pass the virus on unwittingly.”