Testing for sexually transmitted infections on P.E.I. 'a huge concern'
Islanders should not have to go out of province for tests, says AIDS P.E.I.
Islanders who don't have a family doctor are facing obstacles when it comes to getting tested for sexually transmitted infections, according to AIDS P.E.I.
There are currently about 8,000 Islanders waiting for a family doctor on the provincial patient registry.
According to AIDS P.E.I. program manager Cybelle Reiber, some of those people say they aren't comfortable going to a walk-in clinic for testing.
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"They ask me where they can go in Moncton or in Nova Scotia to get tested. I just don't think that's acceptable to have to go off-Island to get tested," said Reiber.
For some she's talked to, the obstacles are too much.
"I hear from people who just say, 'I'm not going to get tested,'" she said.
"That's a huge concern. I mean, we can't stop the spread of infection if people who have infections don't know it."
STI rates below national average
AIDS P.E.I. wants to see testing be included in the new women's reproductive health clinic, which the province plans to open by the end of the year.
Reiber said testing at the clinic should be open to both men and women.
P.E.I. Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Heather Morrison said a significant amount of testing is happening on the Island. She said if a rise in cases is noticed a notification is put out, as it was with syphilis last summer.
Morrison said the number of cases of sexually transmitted infections is holding steady on P.E.I., and is still below the national average.
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With files from Laura Chapin