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“We are not trying to reinvent the wheel,” said Gunter, “we are trying to launch an alternative model.”

Gunter specializes in treatment and prevention of HIV, which made his location a natural for the project. Beginning next week, the 90-second tests will be available Monday evenings from 4 p.m. until 9 p.m. at the pharmacy as part of a weekly clinic.

The rapid point of care test screens people for an antibody associated with HIV. The results are almost immediate. Patients with positive results are then sent to The Ottawa Hospital for confirmatory testing.

The centrally located pharmacy is easily accessible and no appointment is needed for the test, which is free, said Gunter.

He is hoping the pilot project catches people who might not get testing elsewhere.

It is estimated that 14 per cent of Canadians with HIV don’t know they are positive. The pilot project, similar to programs run in other provinces, is aimed at closing that gap.

The Ontario HIV Treatment Network says it will assess the pilot project to see if a broader program would be useful in Ontario.

Ottawa’s HIV infection rate was slightly higher than the provincial average in 2018, at 7.5 cases per 100,000. Preliminary data suggests the rate dropped in 2019 to four cases per 100,000.

Epidemiologist Dara Spatz Friedman said health officials are still seeing a large percentage of cases in Ottawa that are older infections — meaning they were not tested and diagnosed right away. Any program that increases the rate of testing, she said, is positive.

“The sooner you get tested you can enter into care and the better your outcome will be, personally and from a transmission point of view.”

In 2018, the highest rate of HIV in Ottawa was among men between 30 and 34 years old who had a rate of 22 per 100,000. Eleven per cent of cases were among people who use drugs.

epayne@postmedia.com

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