Mobile HIV Clinic Unveiled in Tampa Bay

Mobile HIV Clinic Unveiled in Pinellas County

More HIV Testing and Overdose Training Units Hit the Road

January 5, 2020

New HIV testing and prevention services have rolled into Howard Country, Maryland, and Pinellas County, Florida. Literally. …

In the Sunshine State, Metro Inclusive Health, a nonprofit focused on LGBTQ wellness, is sending its van to locations in Pinellas County where the African-American community have been harder hit by the HIV epidemic. Pinellas County, with a population of about 920,000, is part of the Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater metropolitan area. After a December 15 trial run at a recreation center, the Tampa Bay Times reports, the van will begin stopping at more locations, including churches, school campuses and neighborhoods.

The van offers HIV testing, telehealth appointments with physicians and, when appropriate, PrEP prescriptions.

Scientists consider PrEP to be about 99% effective among men who have sex with men and to be greater than the current estimate of 88% to 90% effectiveness for heterosexual men and women. For more details, see the POZ article “How Well Do U=U and PrEP Work? The CDC Updates Its Answers.”

Mobile testing unit aims to slow the spread of HIV in Tampa Bay

December 23, 2020

Starting in January, local nonprofit Metro Inclusive Health will bring care and prevention to communities most affected by the virus.

Metro Inclusive Health, a local health and wellness nonprofit that provides services for the LGBTQ community, is launching a mobile testing unit aimed at bringing HIV screening into communities hit hard by the virus.

“We’re trying to eliminate the barriers to care and prevention,” said Brian Bailey, the center’s chief marketing and experience officer. “HIV testing is always ground zero.”

Bringing a testing lab into the community “makes it a little easier,” he said, by providing a neutral space for those who may not have access to doctors’ offices or who may not be comfortable at one.