HIV testing campaign ramps up in Eastern Oregon

“We’ve seen an uptick in HIV-positive cases in rural Eastern Oregon, and sexually transmitted disease cases, and so we thought it was just perfect timing,” said Kirt Toombs, CEO and founder of EOCIL. “We’ve been working on this campaign since 2012, and we thought this was a good time to raise awareness.”

According to the press release, national physician groups recommend that everyone be tested for HIV at least once. But most adult Oregonians have never been tested for HIV. People in more rural parts of the state are even less likely than people living in urban areas to be tested in a timely manner, according to the press release.

Toombs said testing and awareness are especially important because ofthe increase in positive cases in Eastern Oregon.

“It’s almost quadrupled,” he said. “Even though the numbers are low, we’ve gone from three cases to almost, I believe, 12 cases. And so that’s quite a bit, and that’s definitely made us take a look at what needs to happen around raising awareness and making tools available.”

The campaign will utilize radio ads, billboards and newspaper ads to raise awareness about testing. Toombs said testing already is available, but awareness has been lacking.

“We serve 13 counties here in Eastern Oregon and so we have the tools available, but I think what was missing is that we needed to make people aware that they’re available,” he said.

One of the major points of the campaign is to highlight that everyone has an HIV status, whether they’ve been tested or not.

“We all have an HIV status, and we should all be tested for HIV at least once, if not more frequently,” said Joseph Fiumara, director for Umatilla County Public Health, in a press release. “I’m thrilled to see this campaign launch here to continue building healthier communities in our part of the state.”

EOCIL provides HIV prevention and case management services in Baker, Gilliam, Grant, Harney, Umatilla, Union, Wallowa, Wasco and Wheeler counties. Among those counties, 222 people are living with HIV, according to the EOCIL press release.

As well as raising awareness with the intent of improving the number of tests administered in rural Eastern Oregon, Toombs said reducing stigma associated with the virus is paramount, and advances in medicine and technology have made living with the virus easier.

“It’s night and day from 30 years ago,” he said. “We’re coming up on the anniversary of the passing of Ryan White (Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act), and so it makes us look back at where we were 30 years ago, and where we are now. Science is just amazing, and (with) the medical care that people are getting now — we’re living longer and healthier lives.”

Those medical advances include PrEP, a prophylactic drug that reduces HIV transmission rates by 99%, according to medical studies. Therapy drugs HIV-positive individuals use also can completely eliminate the transmission of HIV if the virus is undetectable by tests, through a process called Undetected = Untransmittable.

“We shouldn’t have to fear having an HIV test or getting treatment,” Toombs said, “or having access to prevention tools that are available to us.”