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PREVENTION
Frannie Peabody Center provides HIV prevention services from our storefront office on Oak Street in downtown Portland, as well as from Meadowbrook Plaza in York. We provide free, rapid, anonymous HIV testing to a wide array of people at risk, including: men who have sex with men, people who use drugs and/or alcohol, women with multiple or high risk partners, racial and ethnic minorities, people who have been incarcerated, people who have a sexually transmitted disease, and others at risk. In 2008, our prevention staff provided 800 hours of outreach to more than 8,500 high-risk individuals in Cumberland and York counties.
- In 2008, we tested 469 people for HIV
- About 88% of all individuals tested had high risk behaviors for HIV transmission
- One year of treatment for HIV can cost between $13,000 and $35,000
- The U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention has issued guidance that HIV antibody testing should be a routine part of everyone’s health care.
Megan’s Story
Megan was only in her late teens when she was diagnosed with HIV. Her diagnosis came after she returned from a vacation in Jamaica where she had unprotected sex with a man who was working at the resort where she was staying. Megan was not considered at high risk for contracting HIV and the story of her infection is a testament not only to the prevalence of HIV, but to her courage to live a fulfilling life despite her infection.
Read Megan’s story.
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