The Open House operates several health services, including:
– Mental health and psychosocial support through our Open Consultation program
– Sexual health services, featuring the Open Clinic, a testing center for sexually transmitted diseases
The Open Clinic: Comprehensive STI Screening and Support
The Open Clinic offers confidential and non-judgmental STI screening tests, tailored to diverse sexual practices. Our services include:
– Blood tests for HIV and syphilis
– Rapid HIV testing
– PCR tests for chlamydia and gonidia
Before testing, our clients receive free sexual counseling from trained professionals. Our clinic is staffed by a dedicated team of volunteer activists and managed by experienced medical professionals. All team members in-depth training in sexual health and LGBT Q+ specific care.
Additionally, we provide specialized training for medical professionals on LGBTQ+ affirmative treatment and care
If you had unprotected sexual contact and you fear that you have contracted the HIV virus, you can receive preventive treatment up to 72 hours after the event. To receive the treatment, go to the emergency room as soon as possible!
When getting tested at the open clinic, you can choose an anonymous or confidentially identified test route. Please note, if you have chosen the anonymous route, test answers are accepted only orally. If you chose the confidential route, where you provided your details during the test, you can receive a written copy of the results. In any case, you must return to the open clinic during business hours to receive the results of the tests.
Results cannot be delivered by phone or other digital means.
The combined test (or COMBO) is a double ELISA test that tests antibodies and antigens against the HIV virus. The blood sample is taken at our clinic and sent to the laboratory at the Hadassah Ein Karem Hospital, and is able to detect infection with the virus starting three weeks after the dangerous sexual contact. The result to the combined test is received after a week, and in order to receive the result you must return to the clinic during business hours and present the identification form you received on the first visit to the clinic. Please note, it is not possible to get a result over the phone.
Please note, if you chose the anonymous route, the answers to this test are received ? only. If you chose the confidential route, where you provided your details during the test, you can receive a written copy of the results.
The cost of the test: 30 NIS
The quick test is performed immediately, and an answer to it is received within 15-20 minutes. The rapid test is able to detect antibodies against the virus only three months or more after the dangerous contact. That is, if you come to be tested following a certain event that causes you concern and you want to get an answer on the spot, please wait three months from the moment of sexual contact before you come to be tested.
The results of the rapid test are given ? only. According to the procedures of the Ministry of Health, performing a quick test is only possible together with a combo test (which costs 30)
The cost of the test: 50 NIS
A blood test that is taken at our clinic and sent to the laboratory at the Hadassah Ein Karem Hospital. The test checks for the presence of antibodies against T.Pallidum which is the contaminant that causes Syphilis. If you have contracted syphilis in the past, this must be stated during the consultation, and if necessary, the blood sample will be sent for additional tests according to the Ministry of Health’s procedure. The test is able to detect infection that occurred starting one month after the unprotected sexual contact. The answer to the syphilis test is received after a week, and in order to receive the result You must return to the clinic during business hours and present the identification form you received during your first visit to the clinic. Please note, you cannot receive a result over the phone.
The cost of the test: 50 NIS
PCR tests that check for the presence of chlamydia and gonorrhea that are sampled at our clinic and sent to the laboratory at Tel Hashomer Hospital. Unlike the standard tests in most health funds, where only a urine test is taken, in the clinic we offer a swab sample from three different areas of the body – the pharynx, the anus and the genital organ. In this way it is possible to identify the presence of the pollutants according to the sexual practices relevant to you.
For the effectiveness of the test, you must not urinate at least two hours before the test. The test is able to detect infection starting one month after the unprotected sexual contact. The answer to the test is received after two weeks.
Please note that according to Tel Hashomer Hospital’s procedure, all tests are sent without identifying details, according to the clinic’s anonymous test procedure. If you are interested in a copy of the test results you performed, we will provide you with a letter from the open clinic identifying your details.
The cost of the test: 200 NIS
The open clinic offers free consultations on topics related to healthy and protected sexual behavior.
When you arrive at the clinic, we will ask you to fill out an anonymous questionnaire. The purpose of the questionnaire is to provide our consulting team with information to tailor the consultation to your unique needs. The questionnaire contains sections concerning various preferences regarding the conduct of the counseling call, for example information about the papilloma vaccine or PrEP treatment. You can write special requests regarding the consultation on the questionnaire.
During the conversation we will refer to protected and safe sex, various pollutants that are transmitted through sexual contact, and we will provide an explanation of the various tests that can be performed at the open clinic. The purpose of the conversation is to help you make the right decisions for you. The consultation room serves as a safe and open space, where you can ask any question and raise any doubts regarding your sexual conduct. The information provided under the consultation is confidential, and the consulting team goes through comprehensive and thorough training in order to provide you with quality and professional service.
We invite you to come for a consultation at the open clinic, regardless of whether you want or need to perform tests afterward.
The inspection begins with a consultation with a consultant from our great consulting team. The counseling session lasts about fifteen minutes and aims to provide essential information about the various sexually transmitted infections and the ways of infection in each of them, and methods of prevention. As part of the consultation, you will be presented with two possible inspection routes:
In order to carry out the confidential test, it is necessary to identify yourself with an official ID – ID card, passport, belt or driver’s license – and an active phone number. Your identification details will be kept confidential. The advantage of conducting a confidential test is that if the result is not negative, the processes of receiving test results, verification and treatment will be significantly faster. In addition, if it is a negative test, you can receive the answer in writing. It is important to emphasize that the Ministry of Health also has the duty to keep your personal details confidential. In this route, the test details will be recorded under your personal file in the hospital system, so that your doctor or family doctor can pull the information into the HMO system.
There are only a few clinics in Israel that are authorized to perform anonymous testing, and the open clinic is among them. In this test route, we will not ask you for identifying details at all, except for an active phone number which we will verify during the consultation call (according to the procedure of the Ministry of Health). It should be noted that we will not transfer your personal phone number to any party, including the Ministry of Health, and including other parties at the Jerusalem Open House for Pride and Tolerance, without your approval. In this route, you must choose a pseudonym that we will use to mark the test and communicate with you. It will not be possible to obtain a written copy of the negative results.
Choosing this inspection route requires you to carefully guard the receipt you will receive from us, which is your only identifier.
Those in the age range between 14-18 will be allowed to be tested for carriers even without their parents’ permission. These subjects will only be allowed to perform the test in a “confidential” manner, that is, by presenting an identity card, and without reporting to the parents or the health insurance fund, but they will not be allowed to perform a “quick” test with immediate results. Subjects of these ages will receive results a week later, upon returning to the clinic.
Subjects over the age of 16 will be allowed to perform an anonymous test.
Please note – unfortunately, it is not possible to perform “anonymous” tests (without presenting an ID card) on subjects under the age of 16. Under the age of 14, an HIV test will not be allowed in our clinic.
The staff and volunteers of the Open Clinic are here for you for any questions regarding sexual health, gender, sexual identity, safe sex, HIV and syphilis.
You can contact through the media channels or directly to the email openclinic@joh.org.il or in the referral form.
info@joh.org.il |
Text us: 053-324-2900
HaRav Kook Street 8, 6th floor
