The Graduate Center is an HIV-saavy community, which is evidenced by the significant turnout to the recent confidential Rapid-HIV testing event sponsored by the Wellness Center-Student Health Services on November 11. In fact, there proved to be such a need for the service, the Outreach Team from Ryan-NENA Community Health Center will be returning on Thursday, December 3, from 10:00-12:00 and 2:00-4:00 on the concourse level! In addition, the Wellness Center-Student Health Services will be tabling information on HIV/AIDS and World AIDS Day in the lobby.

The fact that there is so much activity and education around HIV speaks to the need for continued efforts to stem transmission of the disease. According to the CDC, many persons with HIV do not get tested until late in their infection. In the United States, approximately 40 percent to 50 percent of patients with HIV infection are diagnosed with AIDS within one year of testing.

Another challenge to prevention efforts is that many persons who are tested do not return to learn their test results. Using the traditional test, it may take several weeks to get results back, warranting a second appointment. The CDC estimated that in 2000, 31 percent of patients who tested positive at public-sector testing sites did not return to receive their results

Rapid-HIV testing both reduces wait time to one visit and expands the testing sites to non-clinical settings. A rapid test uses a quick finger stick test that produces results in about twenty minutes. Allowing time for confidential paperwork and education, the appointment takes less than an hour. The Ryan-NENA staff provides comprehensive, confidential counseling and will connect you quickly to medical services if needed.

One test counts the number of T-cells in the immune system. T-cells are white blood cells that help the body fight infections. HIV destroys these cells. A person with HIV usually has a high number of T-cells early on. Over time, that number begins to drop. Another test checks how much HIV is in the blood. This is called “viral load testing.” The number of T-cells and the HIV viral load determine what kind of treatment a person should have, and show whether or not the treatment is working once it is started.

There are other testing options. State and local health departments, HIV/AIDS organizations or private doctors can give the test. The nurse practitioner at the Wellness Center-Student Health Services can give the test. It has to be sent out for results and requires a follow-up visit, but may be a more convenient option for Graduate Center students. There is a lab fee of about $12 that will be billed to the student by the lab.

No matter the method, all HIV tests are confidential. Your result is told only to you, but it is also put in your medical file, which your health care provider has access to. Some areas offer anonymous testing. This means you don’t give your name and the result will only be reported to you. Home testing kits are available from pharmacies. You mail a blood sample along with a code name or number and receive results over the phone.

Knowing your HIV-status is critical to getting early treatment if your status is positive. While there is no cure for HIV, treatments can be started when the person is healthy. The most common treatments limit the ability of the virus to reproduce. They help protect the immune system and improve chances of staying healthy. Other treatments may slow the spread of HIV, make the immune system stronger and treat opportunistic infections. Certain medicines can be taken by HIV-positive pregnant women to significantly reduce the risk of passing it on to their baby. Since it takes time for HIV to show up in the blood system after it has been contracted, it’s best to get tested regularly.

Important Information

The Ryan-NENA Outreach team will return to the Graduate Center for confidential Rapid-HIV testing on Thursday, December 3 from 10:00-12:00 and 2:00-4:00 in the concourse level (C204-C205).

The last patients from the 10-12 slot will be seen at 12 and the last patients from the 2:00-4:00 slot will be seen at 4:00. Please allow time for a short wait, paperwork, testing and questions and answers, about forty minutes to an hour. If you have any questions, call the Wellness Center at 212-817-7020.

If you are not able to make the onsite testing at the Graduate Center on December 3, the Ryan-NENA Community Health Center offers full HIV services, including rapid testing at their site, located in the Lower East Side.

For information, or appointment call:

Ryan/Chelsea Clinton: (212) 265-4500

Ryan-NENA: Assistant Coordinator of Prevention, Education Outreach (212) 477-8500

Ryan Center: Coord. of Counseling & Testing (212) 749-1820

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In the wake of the hard-fought-and-won NYSHIP health insurance for student employees of CUNY and the (unrelated) creation of a new student position, the Health Education Coordinator, I’d like to review the role that The Wellness Center—Student Health Services (SHS) can and still plays in health care services for Graduate Center students. Obtaining basic health insurance for students working at CUNY was a major victory, however, as Renee McGarry and Jesse Goldstein pointed out in the previous issue of the Advocate, there are still many students not covered by NYSHIP or any insurance at all. This moved us closer to the larger goal of guaranteeing coverage for ALL Graduate Center students, but there are still gaps to be filled. This is where Student Health Services can step in.
At the risk of repeating information you may already know, here’s what SHS offers: the Nurse Practitioner, Adraenne Bowe, provides basic medical care, including routine physical exams; episodic treatment for acute health problems; gynecological pap smears; testicular exams; tests for pregnancy, HIV, STDs, and tuberculosis; immunizations (HPV, MMR, Hepatitis B, seasonal flu vaccine, and occasionally others), and she is able to write prescriptions. All of these services are free to students, thanks to the funding of the Doctoral Students Council. Lab tests are offered at a reduced cost and unand under-insured students are referred to free and low-cost clinics and providers whenever possible.
These services remain a vital resource for students with no or limited coverage. They also fill a gap in the NYSHIP policy, which doesn’t cover routine physical exams, except to reimburse $60 once every two years. A routine exam, the most basic of health care procedures, can prevent larger health issues from devel-
oping later on by screening for them regularly. Why NYSHIP will not to pay for basic care, yet be willing to pay for more expensive procedures, which might be prevented by early detection, is beyond me, but I don’t write the policies. Luckily, students can get routine physical exams for FREE at SHS. Students who are covered under other policies are still eligible for SHS services, and can avoid co-payments by getting basic services there.
Free vaccinations for students also close a cost gap in many insurance plans. Notably, the retail price for the HPV vaccine (brand name: Gardasil) is $125 per shot or $375 for the three-shot series, which is the required dose. Unfortunately, it is only FDA-approved for women under 26, which rules out a large part of our student population, but we have it and it’s a boon for those who can get it. Other vaccines generally cost around $50 each, making these a bargain as well. Unfortunately, the kind of vaccines SHS is able to offer is somewhat limited to the whims of the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. HPV is offered because it’s a relatively new vaccine and Merck, the pharmaceutical company that manufactures it, is heavily promoting it and apparently gives it to the city. Despite her efforts Ms. Bowe, hasn’t been able to get other basic vaccines for the clinic, such as tuberculosis and the combined Hepatitis A & B vaccine. “They [The DHMH] simply won’t give it to me,” she explained.
While my point is to encourage students to use the health services that YOU are paying for through your students fees, which are administered to the Wellness Center by the DSC, I encourage students to request even more services. The more you use the Student Health Services, and the more you make your voice heard about what health services you need and want, the more the Graduate Center administration will have to address students’ basic health rights.
Were all students covered by even basic insurance, the services provided by SHS would be less vital. In the meantime, however, they are crucial! Make the most of them and demand more!
Dr. Robert Hatcher, a clinical psychologist, has been hired as director of the Wellness Center. Starting later this fall, he will oversee both SHS and the Psychological Counseling and Adult Development Center, which up to this point, have been under the same umbrella (The Wellness Center) but which operated independently. With an incoming director, now is an excellent time to be loud and clear about what you need and want from the Wellness Center, rather than leaving it to the administration to guess or decide for you.
SHS and the Office of Student Affairs will be gathering data from the last few years about student use of the SHS and insurance coverage rates of GC students. Data collection in the past has been intermittent and mostly limited to head counts. For example, in 2003, from January to December, there were a total of 370 visits by male students and 750 visits by female students. The Fall semester months have generally been the peak months. All good to know, but it doesn’t give us much information. What services are students asking for? Why are there half as many men as women seeking care here? Is SHS being under-utilized? In answering these and other questions, we can assess the efficacy of what we do have and more effectively work towards getting more health services and greater insurance coverage.
The DSC would like to hear from you! Have you used Student Health Services? How satisfied were you with the care you received? What else is needed?
Visit the Health Issues Committee blog at http:// opencuny.org/health/ or Send your comments to dsc@cunydsc.org.

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