LOS ANGELES : HIV Testing Up 41% Since Louganis Said He Has AIDS

Anonymous testing for the AIDS virus is up 41% at the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Community Services Center clinic in the two weeks since Olympic diver Greg Louganis announced that he had the disease, the center reported Thursday.

Program director Darrel Cummings said the center’s clinic “had been flooded with calls” after the Feb. 22 announcement. “Normally we can test people the same day or the day after they call. Now we are booked six days in advance, testing people from 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.”

Cummings said requests for tests jump each time a public figure reports that he has AIDS or the human immunodeficiency virus. “It momentarily removes the stigma attached to this disease and gives permission to the public at-large to consider they’re at risk for HIV infection,” he said.

The center-run clinic is the nation’s busiest anonymous HIV test site. Normally averaging 160 tests a week, the clinic has been averaging 225 a week since the announcement.