DHEC to offer free HIV/AIDS, STD testing at local health departments for awareness week
Free tests for both sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and HIV/AIDS will be available at many South Carolina public health departments on Thursday, according to our news partners at ABC 25 in Colombia.
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Officials with the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) are providing free tests for STD Awareness Week and National Youth HIV/AIDS Awareness Day.
ABC 25 says the DHEC is encouraging all South Carolinians to go and get the free test to know their current health status, keeping themselves and those around them safe.
“DHEC’s programs and community partners focus their HIV and STD prevention efforts to reach people most at risk of acquiring these infections,” Ali Mansaray, DHEC’s director for the Division of STD, HIV, and Viral Hepatitis, said.
More than 80% of South Carolina’s chlamydia cases were diagnosed in teens and young adults in 2022, ABC 25 says.
Officials say more than 1 in 4 of those cases were diagnosed in teens between the ages of 15 and 19.
According to ABC 25, other numbers from 2022 show that about 69% of gonorrhea cases were diagnosed in patients between the ages of 15 and 29, and 19% of those cases were among teens between 15 and 19.
For more information and resources on HIV and STDs, please click here.
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