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\ ' F mI I /"j 1 \ A Below are totals for AIDS cases and annual rc 1989 through July 1990, August 1990 through, group, through July 1991. Aug. 1990-July 1991 Number Rate mi 1,208 imn ^^^^[685 ^ 1 16.2% I 386 11.1% Cumulative Tote Adults / Adolescents Children Under 13 IipHiHi 4<983 si III 2.m K " P ibr- ; L_J 1.233 I 1 23 jAlOS Hotline:-1-600-322-AIDS i|f||| AIDS* JU CHEG w Free ATM card flBl w Just for people 25 and under JustChecking is available only at Southl in the historic Palmetto Bldg. /376-2000. SouthTrusI 51991 SouthTrust Corporation I USC student finds fl> By ANDREA L. SWEET Staff Writer k, ??-? ) Recently, The Gamecock received a powerful, nerve f\ rattling letter. It started off, "I feel it is to you I must d turn with news that recently came to my attention and K it's a matter of life or death for certain students here W at USC." \J "I still can't believe I got the nerve up to do it, but last Friday morning I drove to Augusta for an anonymous AIDS testing. I won't even know the result for two weeks, but I promised myself I would find a way to get this information out to my fellow students." The student who wrote the letter was upset that South Carolina doesn't provide anonymous AIDS testing while Georgia and even North Carolina, for that fact, does. He also believed this state's lack of anonymonity forces a person to have their results open to public scrutiny from insurance companies, doctors and potential employers. The student, in short, said besides internal conflicts a person may have about being tested, this state only adds more fear by not providing anonymous testing. - & 4 ites per 100,000 people, by state, reported August t BankS Member FDIC July 1991; and cumulative totals, by state and age Aug. 1989 - July 1990 Number . . Rate ; ' ; :|||j f/? mmm ^5 [ 711 [ ^ I 310 ' ZZ] 8 8% llS Total m/tmrn w*1 *?*$* ms % [ 273"*n|fjLouisiana . ; g/. II 779 Mississippi H ?stlng at Richmond Center In Georgia;;(404): 724-4214 Ryan Sims / The Gamecock 717 i KING w No per-check charge ^ ^ 99C a month "rart: 1400Main Street at Washington aws in testing systems Instead of providing anonymous testing, South Carolina provides what is called 'confidential' testing. Anyone who goes into a state agency that provides HIV testing is required to give their real name and social security number. Before the test will be given, the patient is asked a few questions as to why they think they have the virus and about their sexual behaviors. After the test is given and if it is negative, the course of action you take is up to you. But, the Department of Health and Environmental Control suggests you return to take the test in three to four months to confirm that you are really negative. In all cases when you first contract AIDS, it will normally take the body from 6-14 1/2 weeks to adjust to its positive state. Therefore, you may have the HIV virus in its first stage, even though your test results may be negative because your body's blood hasn't converted to the virus's antibody yet. This period between contraction and confirmation is caUpA thft 'window neriod ' After crfttinu th** Hicpacf the body deals with the infection itself and some develop HIV while others may not. DHEC also warns that not all people who have the HIV virus live to have AIDS because many usually die of complications within a two-year period. However, note that AIDS testing looks for the HIV antibodies in the bloodstream not the virus itself. After being confirmed as positive, the person is called back into the department and given their results. Questions then soon will follow pertaining to your sexual behavior and once more you are asked to give the names of all sexual partners that you can remember who could have acquired the disease. This method is called contact testing. DHEC then sends out a team of people to find and tell those people on the list that they may have a Sexually Transmitted Disease. The name of the positive person and the word AIDS is never used. All that the team is told is that the situation demands urgent attention. And to correct the student writer who insists that S.C. provide anonymous testing, it does nothing to protect the patient's privacy. Dr. Harold Dowda, of the Department of State Park Health Center with laboratory testing for HIV, said that while S.C.'s testing is not anonymous, the information records at DHEC is never made public to in I I f Going ^ ?I out' J ^?? $? Ar. I MM*. are I rara yh fro If you have answered "Yes" to any or chances are you may have a nervous brc panic, there is still hope. Come to kinko night and salvage what is left of your san materials and whatever else you need ari because a mind is a terrible thing to wast fWREEE ! ni iw Ahir Ari DU I VJTiC, on I Please bring thi | LIZARD'S THICKET, 92 g CORNELL ARMS BUILDING (J g buy ONE meal and get SECOND me* o (Does not include bev< OFFER GOOD EVEI FOR EAT-IN ONLY. I Expires 1C > surance companies, or employers, but they are kept on a strictly confidential database system. Statistics are only known to the DHEC staff members and any other public health members who may have to treat those individuals. Only court orders can have these records opened. "I don't believe people should be discriminated against because of AIDS as in many cases with insurance companies who may cancel the patient's policy; however, I strongly believe that secret testing is in the best interest of public health," Dowda said. South Carolina previously operated on an anonymous/confidential system, but all that changed in February of 1986 and the same may be happening in Georgia by the first of 1992. For the most part, Georgia uses a voluntary testing system but it also has a confidential one in cases involving rape, incest, prostitution, special injuries at work and immigration. Willa Mitchell, AIDS Coordinator for the Richmond Center in Augusta, Ga., said she believes all states will do away with anonymous testing but for now she sees nothing wrong with the way their state operates. However, many doctors in South Carolina say Georgia's method of dealing with the epidemic does nothing but helps to spread the virus, since the patient's real name is never known and they are only identified by an index number. See AIDS page 5 WaZ, Lately? I take this easy, ten-second quiz. e you currently cramming for exams or iterms? I e you tired of constantly running to ; Reserve Room to copy materials that * either missing or poor quality? 1 you forget to buy your class materials m kinko's? , . all of these questions, I akdown soon. But don't \V. C^J ity. Pick up your course \ J I I id put your mind at ease I Trir^B IB^^BIB * TTH X'A rn F # T - ? P**^j|p 'fBl V- IV IHitiHiBCTTTiiiraa r ONE FREE! ! is coupon to 1 SUMTER STREET O across from HORSESHOE) ?: al of equal or lesser value FREE! g 3rages or desserts) z 3YDAY 4PM-8PM 40 CARRY OUTS. j 1/11/91 |