Portland, Maine - This month marks the sixth annual GYT: Get Yourself Tested campaign -- a national campaign designed to promote sexual health and address the disproportionately high rates of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) — including HIV, chlamydia, and gonorrhea — among young people under 25. The campaign is a collaborative effort of the American College Health Association (ACHA), the Kaiser Family Foundation, MTV, National Coalition of STD Directors (NCSD), and Planned Parenthood Federation of America, with technical consultation provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Here in Portland, Planned Parenthood of Northern New England (PPNNE) and the City of Portland’s Public Health Division including the India Street Health Center are working together to raise awareness by making it easy for Portland adults in their twenties to get tested.
Half of the estimated 20 million sexually transmitted diseases contracted each year occur among the under-25 age group, although they only represent one quarter of the sexually active population. In fact, one in two sexually active young people in the U.S. will contract an STD by the time they’re 25 — and most won’t know it. These trends bear out in Maine with adults in their twenties comprising more than sixty percent of the diagnosed cases of chlamydia and more than half of the cases of gonorrhea last year.
“Getting tested is simply a basic part of staying healthy and taking control of your sex life — and it’s easier than ever before,” said Donna Burkett, Medical Director at Planned Parenthood of Northern New England.
