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Five minutes could mean freedom from uncertainty. Freedom from fear. Freedom from ignorance. It’s this emancipation from the unknown that has the Lee County Health Department partnering with local clinics to offer free HIV testing throughout the week in honor of National HIV Testing Day Wednesday.

Offered in several locations throughout Southwest Florida, event organizers want people to know that the test, which takes about five minutes to complete when administered orally, is not just for prostitutes, drug users and gay people. They may be the groups commonly stigmatized with the disease, but in Lee County, more than half of those diagnosed with HIV are heterosexual, and the county ranks eighth out of Florida’s 63 counties for HIV cases.

“Most people don’t have GPS systems on their partners’ zippers, and I say that in jest, but the reality is you don’t know for sure where they’ve been or who they’ve been with,” said Peter Bright, director of programs at the Island Coast AIDS Network, one of the programs hosting free testing.

About 1,300 Lee County residents are diagnosed with AIDS or HIV, according to the health department’s 2007 report. Of those, one out of 72 blacks, one out of 359 Hispanics and one out of 768 whites has either disease.

On Thursday, the Lee County Health Department will administer free HIV tests from 4 to 7 p.m., as well as urine tests for gonorrhea and chlamydia. Additionally, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Friday, the Source of Light and Hope Development Center will go door-to-door at the Sabal Palms apartment complex and Palmetto Court, offering condoms, HIV testing, hot dogs, juice and phone cards, all for free, to anyone who gets tested. During this time, the center will also offer the same incentives at the Fowler Center Barber Shop at 2225 Fowler Street. Its door-to-door canvassing and free food recently helped the organization test about 50 people, one of its better turnouts to date.

At ICAN, located at 2231 McGregor Blvd., free HIV testing will be offered to those leaving the criminal justice system from 4 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, with services offered in English, Spanish and Creole. ICAN specifically tailored its testing to those who recently were released from jail or prison because it’s a high risk group, Bright said.

The oral test involves rubbing a swab between the cheek and gum and holding it in one’s mouth for three minutes, Bright said. Though it takes minutes to complete, it takes about two weeks to get the results.

“For some people, waiting is the hardest part,” Source of Light HIV outreach worker Nancy Seymore said, noting that those who cannot bear to wait can visit a clinic in Naples that offers a quick test where visitors can receive their results on the same day.

The anxiety that accompanies waiting or the fear of getting one’s results shouldn’t keep a person from getting tested, she said.

“A lot of people don’t want to know their status,” she said. “They are really afraid that if they have HIV, they’re going to die, and they need to know that there are treatments they can take that can prolong their lives and really help them.”

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LEE/COLLIER HIV TESTING LOCATIONS

Collier County:

Wednesday:

Marion E. Fether Medical Center, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Collier County Health Department (Naples), 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Planned Parenthood of Collier County, noon to 4 p.m.

Unity Faith Missionary Baptist Church, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Thursday:

Collier County Health Department (Naples), 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Marion E. Fether Medical Center, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Friday:

Planned Parenthood of Collier County, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Collier County Health Department (Naples and Immokalee locations), 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Saturday:

Collier County Health Department (Naples), 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Lee County:

Wednesday:

Island Coast AIDS Network Centex Center, 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Note: Testing at this location is offered for people who have been recently released from the criminal justice system.

Thursday:

Lee County Health Department, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Friday:

Source of Light & Hope Development Center (2 locations)

Fowler Center’s Barber Shop, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Door-to-door canvassing throughout Sabal Palms apartment complex and Palmetto Court, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.