Clinical Problems
Gotbaum and advocates dish the dirt on city STD clinics
Hoping to get a rapid HIV test at a city clinic? Good Luck! According to a recent report on the city’s 10 STD clinics, rapid HIV testing was available at only one of the clinics. In 2006, rapid HIV tests were available at 7 of the ten clinics. Unfortunately, this statistic is likely to get worse. In June city budget cuts, funding for rapid HIV testing in the city’s hospitals and clinics was cut by $1 million.
“Cutting this funding is extremely penny wise and pound foolish,” said New York City Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum, who authored the report. The report Patient Progress: A Follow-Up Review of New York City’s STD Clinics was released in a press conference Monday outside the Chelsea Clinic—the worst performing of the city’s 10 free walk-in clinics operated by the City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Gotbaum was joined by representatives Housing Works, GMHC, NARAL Pro-Choice New York and the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU).
Although all clinics offered standard HIV tests, rapid testing, which delivers results in as little as 20 minutes, offers distinct advantages for treatment and prevention. A CDC study in 2000 found that 30 percent of people who tested HIV-positive did not return for their test results.
“It is unconscionable that while Commissioner Frieden has been advocating to change the state’s HIV testing laws to supposedly improve access to HIV rapid testing, he has been unable to provide adequate testing opportunities for the public in clinics run by his own department,” said Housing Works Director of New York City Policy and Organizing Kristin Goodwin.
‘Erroneous conclusions’
The NYC DOH strongly disputed the Public Advocate’s claims. A DOH spokesperson told the Update that rapid testing is available at all clinics, but the last test of the day must start at 4 p.m., so registration must be completed by then. Even if Gotbaum’s investigators arrived at 3 p.m., they wouldn’t have seen clinicians by 4 p.m.
“In her report, the Public Advocate draws a number of erroneous conclusions about the Health Department’s STD clinics and the services they offer. These clinics ably meet New Yorkers’ needs by providing accessible, high-quality care, and a wide range of services at a variety of times and locations,” the Health department stated.
The Public Advocate’s office said it arrived at each clinic at 3 p.m. The purpose of the report was not an overall analysis of the clinics, but rather a sample of how an individual who attempted to be seen at the clinics in the afternoon would be served.
Sex ed in NYC schools lacking
Gotbaum’s report recommended that all clinics should extend evening hours past the 4 p.m. closing time, offer more rapid testing and increased access to STD services. The report also highlighted that the Department of Education (DOE) should mandate sex education in all high schools citywide. Currently the DOE only recommends sex education in local high schools. In addition, schools prohibit condom demonstrations.
“It’s a remnant of a right-wing campaign in the ’90s to stop accurate sex education,” said NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman. “The condom demonstration is one of the best tools we have available for comprehensive sex education, and schools are not accessing it.”
Nationwide, 25 percent of teenage girls have at least one STD, and in New York City, 34 percent of STD infections were among girls age 15 to 19.
Posted on October 30, 2008 at 9:07 pm
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