By WMBD TV
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. (WMBD) — Talking with a doctor about your sexual health can be embarrassing, but it is vital to keep yourself healthy.
Erin O’Malley, PReP for HIV program navigator, or also known as the condom lady, helps people across the country keep themselves healthy, while also providing a safe place.
“I feel that she is just kind of a beacon for her within the community, that she has gone out on her own like I’ve heels, our shoes to the ground, a lot of grassroots campaigning in order to build this program that she has created here up in McLean County Health Department,” said Casie Smith, community health services director at the department.
The program is the PReP for HIV program. It offers testing for not just HIV, but other STI’s in order to keep people safe. She also ensures that any patients receive contraceptives as well.
While much of what the program does is preventative, she is still there for those who receive a diagnosis that no one wants to hear.
“Telling someone that they’re HIV positive. It’s not easy,” O’Malley said.
The most important part of her job is the education of HIV and also ways to prevent contracting any sort of STI.
“I want to give people that power,” O’Malley said. “It’s just encouragement and power to respect themselves and love themselves and do whatever they really want to do, and not because of something else.”
“I just want people to be okay and safe. And prevention could be fun, too. You know, safe sex can be very fun.”
The program is important to the people in the community because not all doctors will prescribe PReP to prevent HIV, but the communicable diseases clinic does just that, at a low or no cost to the patient.
“It offers resources that a lot of people would not have access to otherwise. And so, especially with PReP, there are a lot of providers that just don’t feel comfortable prescribing PReP as a medication. Being able to provide that just fulfills that gap,” said Smith.
Erin hopes that with more conversation about safe sex practices, the stigma around HIV and other STIs will fade away
“They should see that HIV is not the same as it was 40 years ago. I think that we need to have more conversations about safer sex and prevention and taking care of yourself and respecting yourself so that HIV stigma is just something that goes away because it’s just routine things that we’re going to do,” she said.
WMBD TV first reported this story. You can read the original story online at CIProud.com.
