A successful on-campus testing service ceased operations last March due to inadequate federal funding. The new service will be provided by staff from the non-profit agency Philadelphia Community Health Alternatives (PCHA). Testing will be conducted every Wednesday from 12 to 4 p.m., beginning on October 2.
Testing will be done by appointment only, and is available to all members of the Penn community as well as residents of West Philadelphia. Appointments must be made by phoning the PCHA's Mazzoni Clinic in Center City, at 735-1911. Please specify that you wish to be tested at the Penn campus site. The campus testing site is located at 4019 Irving Street, behind the Penn Dental School.
Four individuals deserve special recognition for their efforts to resume HIV testing services on the Penn campus: Dan Horn and Mary Palacio of PCHA, and Dr. Vernon Brightman and Laurie Strow of the Dental School. The Office of Health Education is grateful for their support of HIV prevention efforts on our campus.
Because federal, state, and local funding for HIV prevention is not keeping pace with the demand for services, it is impossible to promise that on-campus testing will be a permanent fixture at Penn for years to come. Given the current political trends toward smaller goverment and fewer social services, all HIV testing programs are in danger of cutbacks and shifts in the populations they are mandated to serve. Penn students need to be aware that PCHA's ability to provide on-campus testing is vulnerable to this political reality.
Questions about the testing site, as well as other concerns related to HIV/AIDS, may be directed to the Office of Health Education: 573-3525 or she@pobox.upenn.edu.
-- Kurt Conklin, Health Educator, Student Health Service
Almanac
Volume 43 Number 7
October 8, 1996
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