County Increases Efforts to Fight STDs

By Thandisizwe Chimurenga |

In an effort to tackle the high rates of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) affecting Black women within Los Angeles County, 2^nd District Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas unveiled new enhancements to the county’s “I Know” testing campaign on Sept. 19, at the soon-to-be opened Martin Luther King, Jr. Public Health Center (MLK).

Called “Net Meets Street,” the new enhancements to the program, including digital tablets and touch-screen kiosks, are touted as making the free testing kits more widely accessible.

 

 

The “I Know” home test kit program was launched in 2009 as a means of overcoming the obstacles that many women face regarding diagnosis and treatment of STDs.  The expansion of the program is part of an effort to link community health clinics such as MLK to the surrounding community. The strategy includes community-based public health workers to provide follow-up on STD cases and a County-authorized mobile van for outreach and distribution of condoms and other information pertaining to sexual health.

 

 

Women will be able to utilize the kiosks or digital tablets, which will be placed at various locations throughout the 2^nd District,  to order and receive a kit immediately, but they will also still be able to receive the product via mail through the County’s website, www.DontThinkKnow.org, or through the County STD Program’s hotline, 1-800-758-0880.

“Unfortunately, these infectious diseases are at unacceptable levels and are increasing, particularly among young African-American women,” said Supervisor Ridley-Thomas. “These are our mothers, our sisters, our daughters who are suffering from the health consequences of these STDs, and we cannot let them go untreated. Families depend upon them, communities depend upon them, but you can’t treat what you don’t know exists,” he said.

 

 

Los Angeles County has the highest number of chlamydia cases in the United States, and gonorrhea cases are the second highest.  Within the 2^nd District, STD levels are the highest within Los Angeles County.

According to statistics released from Sup. Ridley-Thomas’ office, “more than 30,000 women and girls acquire infections every year, with younger women most heavily affected,” particularly within the 15-24 year-old age range.

 

Photos courtesy of Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas’ office