The All Points North podcast explores why someone seeking emergency HIV prevention medication said he was turned away from the Emergency Department at Haartman Hospital in Helsinki. This individual also told APN he was given incorrect information about accessing the drug by HUS' medical helpline, which told him to book a private doctor.
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"This person has gotten the wrong information. I'm sorry for his sake for that. He has not gotten the correct information. PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis) is a very effective way of preventing HIV when it's done correctly," Jussi Sutinen, an infectious disease specialist at Helsinki University Hospital, explained.
PEP, however, needs to be taken within 72 hours of potential exposure to the virus.
"I think you can work in Finland as a nurse for years and years without hearing about PEP, or you don't hear about HIV issues," said Jenny Tigerstedt,who works with HIV prevention at Hivpoint.
She, however, noted that the nurses at Haartman should have consulted with a doctor before telling the man that the emergency room did not stock PEP.
Women helping women
APN also caught up with Caroline Bondier of International Working Women of Finland (IWWOF). The Finnish Refugee Council recently recognised the volunteer group for its work in promoting the inclusion of foreign women in Finland.
She claimed companies in Finland pay a lot of attention to how applicants present their skills compared to employers in other countries.
"About 45 percent of women of foreign background in Finland don't have work at the moment, which is a huge number, and we know that many of them are actually very interested to be in the workplace, so that's what we try to help them with," Bondier told APN.
Join the conversation
This week's show was presented by Zena Iovino and Mark B. Odom, who alsoproduced the show. The audio engineer was Laura Koso.
If you have any questions or would like to share your thoughts, just contact us via WhatsApp on +358 44 421 0909, on our Facebook or Twitter accounts, or at yle.news@yle.fi and allpointsnorth@yle.fi.