LoveYourself Uni Ready to Offer Confidential & Free HIV Testing Services

Wazzup Pilipinas!

LoveYourself, Inc., an HIV and AIDS awareness advocacy group, has started the operations of its new HIV testing clinic and community center today (February 17) which is located along Taft-Buendia in Pasay City dubbed as LoveYourself Uni.

The new clinic reinforces the group's effort in providing free and confidential HIV testing and counseling, and promoting safer sex practices to curb the exploding HIV epidemic among men who have sex with men (MSMs) with 6.1 or 61 per 1000 person-years based on its old Malate clinic data from 2012-2015.

On a per age group data, clients ages 15-22 reached an 8.5 incidences, 23-28 have 5.6 incidences, and 29 years old and above have 4.8 incidences.

LoveYourself Executive Director Vinn Pagtakhan emphasized that "new intervention is needed" to augment the previous initiatives from all wellness and sexual health defenders.

This is why the clinic has a youthful vibe, wherein there are five counseling rooms, one function room and a larger reception area with larger holding capacity for clients who wish to avail of the free services LoveYourself is offering.

Love Yourself Uni volunteers

For 2015 alone, LoveYourself has served 16,062 new and frequent clients, in which 1,501 were reactive or about 20% of the total diagnosed people living with HIV (PLHIV) in the country. Pagtakhan pointed out that the numbers indicate that "LoveYourself is hitting the right target and this goes to show that more people are aware and more people can be led to treatment which will curb AIDS epidemic."

On another note, LoveYourself, together with Pilipinas Shell Foundation, Inc. has provided free HIV testing and counseling to about 240 companies, schools, and communities within Luzon, 170 of which have formulated an HIV and AIDS workplace policy and program for their respective institutions.

Emphasizing and recognizing utmost ethical standards in medical practice to save lives, Department of Health-Research Institute for Topical Medicine (DOH-RITM) Head of the AIDS Research Group Dr. Rossana Ditangco said that LoveYourself clinics and testing activities are open for minor who wish to get tested and know their status.

LoveYourself is a 100% voluntary organization, the DOH-RITM provided, among others, trainings, diagnostic expertise and equipment, and medical staff; while Pilipinas Shell Foundation, Inc. provides support for the outreach program and hotline communications of the advocacy.

LoveYourself Uni was inaugurated last Saturday (February 13) with clinic schedule as follows: Wednesdays-Saturdays from 12:00 nn to 7:00p.m. and Sundays from 9:00a.m. to 2:00p.m. LoveYourself Anglo along Shaw Boulevard operates on the same schedule catering to the people closer to Mandaluyong City.

For more information, kindly visit www.loveyourself.ph or like and follow us on our social media accounts: Facebook- //loveyourself.ph; Twitter-@LoveYourselfPh; and Instagram-@LoveYourselfPh.

Cover Photo Caption (L-R): Ronivin Pagtakhan, Executive Director, LoveYourself, Inc., Dr. Rossana Ditangco, Head, DOH-RITM AIDS Research Group, Marvi Trudeau, Program Manager, Pilipinas Shell Foundation, Inc, and Chris Lagman, Co-Founder and Head of Learning and Development, LoveYourself, Inc.

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