More than 50 people were tested for HIV at last weekend’s Pride festival with an innovative new rapid HIV test. Family Planning Council’s SafeGuards program, in partnership with the University of Pennsylvania’s HIV Prevention Research Division, is the first community-based organization in the city to utilize INSTI Rapid HIV test, which produces results in 60 seconds. FPC’s SafeGuards program and Penn tested 54 people at the June 9 event at Penn’s Landing. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the test for use in community-focused settings last year. SafeGuards director Brian Green said there was plenty of buzz about the test during Pride. “It was great. People were really excited to be able to be offered a test,” he said. Green said SafeGuards and Penn have had a longstanding relationship, prompting the latest partnership. “They’ve been working on HIV vaccine research and we do education around vaccine research that Penn was doing and, a couple years ago, they reached out to us to connect with the LGBT community,” Green said. SafeGuards uses Penn’s mobile testing unit to reach out to conduct outreach to men who have sex with men of color, leading to the new Men’s Testing Initiative. “It includes SafeGuards, COLOURS, GALAEI and AIDS Care Group in Chester,” Green explained. “Those four, along with Penn, have embarked on this special initiative to increase the testing that is offered to MSM in the Philly area.” SafeGuards conducts testing from the mobile unit every Wednesday from noon-7 p.m. at 13th and Locust streets as part of an online intervention called Smart4Life launched in January to reach young MSM through social media. The introduction of the INSTI test will be particularly important for the younger populations, Green said, who are used to “instant answers, instant messaging and instant connections.” Since INSTI only takes one minute, it is a perfect fit for community events, Green said. “At events and places where there is higher-traffic volume and where people are pressed for time, the one big thing people say is, ‘I don’t have time,’” he said. “This test only takes a minute and it gets people to stop and think about it more. It helps people to stop and make time for this. We really just want to engage and get people thinking about it again.” For more information on the INSTI Rapid HIV Test, email [email protected] or call 215-985-6828.
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