So today I headed off to get hold of my HIV clearance certificate, obviously meaning I had to go for the test as well. I don’t do preliminary checkups or tests, and HIV/AIDS is no different. So while I don’t officially know my status, I’ve just always believed it to be negative. Not to say that there isnt room for me to be positive, but it is just that a person always believes that something of such a serious nature will never happen to them. It always happens to the people around you, never to you. School, university and even public media go to great lengths to inform people about HIV/AIDS and I seriously doubt that there arent too many young people that know nothing about it. My moms brother passed away from the opportunistic diseases that claimed him thanks to AIDS quite a couple of years ago, so we know a fair bit about it from that side as well I guess.
So anyways, the test is really impressively simple. They prick a finger with a sophisticated doodah-thinga-majig, draw a little blood out and dab it on a testing strip. The nurse then covers it up and you sit and chat for about 15 minutes before the result can be read. Obviously this isnt a full test for the HIV virus, but rather a test of your C4 count which is the main indicator of AIDS being present. The nurse I was chatting to was a wonderfully cheerful and bright lady who has been working in the field for about 17 years already. It was quite wonderful to chat with her about how things have changed and improved over the years and how it continues to do so. My own conclusions really are that with respect to the HIV/AIDS pandemic, our government is really getting something right for a change (Even if some high ranking people keep going on about garlic and showers for some reason).
Anyway, enough yapping. The results of my test were negative and I got my needed clearance certificate, so the final piece of my preparations for Saturdays tournament lies completed :)