If you are a man having sex with men there are a few things to consider when deciding how often to test: How often are you having sex with new partners? …are your partners having sex with any other partners?

HIV testing every 3 – 6 months is recommended in BC for guys who have sex with guys if they are having on going risk. Which basically means if you are having sex with new partners or your partners are having sex with new partners, you should tried to be tested every 3 – 6 months. Using condoms will certainly lower your risk of HIV infections but as condoms can fail (break, fall off, etc) regular testing is important. Minimum testing should be done once a year.

3 – 6 month testing is also important for other STIs like Gonorrhea, Chlamydia and Syphilis as these are very easy to pass around. There has been a large increase in Syphilis cases in Vancouver over the last few years and unfortunately almost all of these cases have been in men who are having sex with men so more regular testing for this infection is being encouraged. 3 – 6 month testing is recommended and again at minimum test once a year.

Bute Street Clinic will not ask for your ID and if you need treatment for any STI they will provide it to you free of charge (again with no ID needed). The only time they will ask for ID is if you want a printout of your results. They do wart treatments on Wednesday and Fridays and are open Monday to Friday from 11 am to 6:30 pm for testing. Check out this link to find their Clinic details.

Please leave a comment to let us know if this answers your question or if you need anymore information.

Health Nurse

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