Dr. Olivia McDonald (centre), executive director of the National Family Planning Board, and an employee, Letty Burrell, distribute condoms to Roy Tabois, a member of the public, on Valentine's Day yesterday. - Rudolph Brown/Chief Photographer

Petrina Francis, Staff Reporter

On Sundays he is usually found on the pulpit of his Kingston church. Often, his message to the congregation is not to yield to the temptation of the flesh.

But yesterday he was with scores of other people, waiting anxiously in Kingston's Mandela Park, waiting anxiously for his test result.

This pastor, whose name has been withheld to protect his privacy - and to provide him the opportunity, if he wishes, to himself inform his congregation - was among hundreds of Jamaicans who were tested for HIV/AIDS at the start of the Ministry of Health's Safer Sex Week.

"I am doing it out of mere curiosity because when I was sexually active in the past, I was very promiscuous and I haven't done a test before," he told The Gleaner. "So it is like a certificate and I recommend that everybody should do it because even if you are in a monogamous relationship you can still catch it," he told The Gleaner.

Was he nervous about the test and the possible result.

"Nervous? Why should I be?" the preacher asked. "A test is a test and if I find that I am positive life goes on. It doesn't stop there."

Lovette Byfield, behaviour change communication specialist in the Health Ministry, said while the test was for anyone who wanted to get tested, her ministry was targeting the 19-39 age group as that cohort is more sexually active, and therefore more prone to be infected with HIV/AIDS.

A safe night

She noted that Valentine's Day is a day for love and romance, and yesterday's activity, which was aimed at testing 2,000 persons, was a way of encouraging persons to get tested and have a safe night in whatever activities they had planned.

Ms. Byfield said knowing one's status is important, as a HIV-negative person would be counselled to maintain that status, and if it was found that one was positive, then Antiretroviral Drugs would be provided.

She also noted that yesterday's activity was to normalise HIV/ AIDS testing, and also reduce fear of testing and reduce the stigma associated with disease.

Ms. Byfield said Nelson Mandela Park was chosen because of its central location, and persons were tested using the Rapid HIV test, which took about 30 minutes for them to receive results.

Safer Sex Week is being observed under the theme: 'Safe Sex: Good Sex = Rubbers and a Test'.

Meanwhile, the National Family Planning Board (NFPB) yesterday distributed some 160,000 condoms across the island.

When The Gleaner visited Sylvan Road, Kingston, staff members were seen handing out condoms to motorists and pedestrians.

Dianne Thomas, director of outreach at NFPB, said the board decided to distribute condoms on Valentine's Day, based on the response it received during National Family Planning Week, which is observed in October.

petrina.francis@gleanerjm.com