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Grab a coffee, get screened for HIV for free in new LoveYourself centers
You don't need to visit a clinic to know your status. In community centers established advocacy group LoveYourself, you can schedule a screening while grabbing a cup of coffee with a friend.
Prior to providing HIV care services, LoveYourself first created a safe space in 2011 for anyone and everyone to discuss their anxieties about getting screened for the virus and learning more about what it means to live with the infection.
The screening for HIV itself is free, but the stigma surrounding it still prevents people from seeking help.
The founders of the group know that the first line against any health issue is information and that's what they sought to provide to the public. A few years shy of a decade later, the community they built grew to become a primary healthcare facility certified by the Department of Health (DOH).
However, they still prefer being called a "center" rather than a clinic. It's not just a "testing site"; it's a place where people can hangout and relax.
“The idea is that its like a cafe, like a co-working space... where peers can conduct HIV-screening (without an intimidating environment),” LoveYourself co-founder and senior director Chris Lagman told the press during the launch of new centers on November 17.
LoveYourself Welcome and Lily
The first is LoveYourself Welcome, strategically located on the border of Quezon City and Manila. The groups data showed that these areas have shown an increasing interest for the services to provide and Lagman said that they want to be as accessible as possible to those who need them most.
Volunteers at the center serve coffee and the center itself is made to feel more like a café. LoveYourself hopes to reach younger people, who might feel more comfortable in a less "medical" setting.
The DOH has previously expressed its concern over the fact that the bulk of this year's HIV cases were young people aged between 15 and 34 years old.
According to data shared by the DOH in July 2018, at least one person is diagnosed with HIV every hour in the Philippines. Moreover, at least 55,282 Filipinos have been diagnosed with HIV from January 1984 to May 2018.
Half of the HIV cases in the NCR were diagnosed by LoveYourself volunteers.
While the news of rising number of HIV cases seems alarming, it can also mean that the DOH and advocacy groups like LoveYourself are reaching a new audience.
Opening specialty centers, like Lily by LoveYourself x DIOSSA in Paranaque City, removes hurdles for marginalized groups who may find it difficult to get help. In addition to screening for HIV, Lily will also be providing hormone replacement therapy and counseling for transgender people.
In 2019, LoveYourself will be opening its center in Cebu, the first outside of Metro Manila. They will also be rolling out the SelfCare kits, a free at-home screening kit.
READ: LoveYourself, Catriona Gray introduce free at-home HIV screening ‘SelfCare’ kit.
"SelfCare is a very bold move and a pioneering initiative here in the Philippines ... If you can imagine, every single person could have access to either a community center or to a SelfCare kit in their own home," Miss Universe Philippines 2018 and LoveYourself ambassador Catriona Gray said during the launch.
LoveYourself is an organization mostly made up of volunteers who take multi-layered action on the HIV epidemic by promoting self-worth and the TSC concept, which means “timely testing and treatment, safe and satisfying sex, and correct and consistent use of condom” as ways to protect one’s self from doing risky behaviors.
Existing community center of LoveYourself are LoveYourself Anglo (Shaw Blvd., Mandaluyong City), LoveYourself Uni (Taft Ave., Pasay City), and Victoria by LoveYourself (Park Ave., Manila).
Visit the LoveYourself website for more details. — AT, GMA News
LoveYourself Welcome is at 858 Blumentritt Road cor. Remedios St., Sampaloc, Manila. The clinic is open from Tuesdays to Saturdays from 2 pm to 11 pm.
LoveYourself located at the #98 Pineda Building Manalac Ave., Sitio De Asis, Barangay San Martin De Porres, Paranaque City.
