Los Angeles Std Testing
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STD Testing Program
When manually transmitted diseases make the news in Los Angeles, it's usually a high-profile case contracted in the adult film industry. But thousands are silently suffering all over Los Angeles county. Public health chief Dr. Jonathan Fielding says that Los Angeles has more chlamydia cases and the second-highest number of gonorrhea cases than any other county in the United States, according to CBS Los Angeles. In Los Angeles County, young minority women in South Los Angeles are the ones most likely to be infected.
Take a Look at:Los angeles std testing
That's why County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas launched a campaign to get home STD test kits in the hands of any woman who wants it, and he's come up with some unlikely allies. In a press release sent out last Monday, Ridley-Thomas is counting the "First Ladies of the Faith-based community" (i.e. pastors' wives) in the fight against manually transmitted diseases and the dangerous complications that can result from lack of treatment. One such "first lady," Debra Williams of McCoy Memorial Baptist Church, tells the Los Angeles Times that "Nobody wants to talk about it" but "we need to change that." In the same article, Ridley-Thomas praised the churches' involvement in the effort, saying, "This is probably the first time you have pastors and first ladies coming forward to address an issue that heretofore has been considered taboo."
Take a Look at:Los angeles std testing
The test kits were part of an initial experimental program in 2009, but Ridley-Thomas's initiative is making the effort more comprehensive with new high-tech features and a community outreach component. Touch-screen computer kiosks are being rolled out in pharmacies throughout Los Angeles an an alternative to ordering the free kits online, enabling women to receive the kit immediately instead of waiting for it to come in the mail. According to the Los Angeles Times, the kiosks will eventually be available in community centers and schools. As for the community outreach, that's something that the churches are stepping up to tackle. Salya Mohamedy, a health staffer at Ridley-Thomas' Inglewood offices, spoke with LA Weekly about the social aspects that need to be addressed when it comes to STDs.
When manually transmitted diseases make the news in Los Angeles, it's usually a high-profile case contracted in the adult film industry. But thousands are silently suffering all over Los Angeles county. Public health chief Dr. Jonathan Fielding says that Los Angeles has more chlamydia cases and the second-highest number of gonorrhea cases than any other county in the United States, according to CBS Los Angeles. In Los Angeles County, young minority women in South Los Angeles are the ones most likely to be infected.
Take a Look at:Los angeles std testing
That's why County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas launched a campaign to get home STD test kits in the hands of any woman who wants it, and he's come up with some unlikely allies. In a press release sent out last Monday, Ridley-Thomas is counting the "First Ladies of the Faith-based community" (i.e. pastors' wives) in the fight against manually transmitted diseases and the dangerous complications that can result from lack of treatment. One such "first lady," Debra Williams of McCoy Memorial Baptist Church, tells the Los Angeles Times that "Nobody wants to talk about it" but "we need to change that." In the same article, Ridley-Thomas praised the churches' involvement in the effort, saying, "This is probably the first time you have pastors and first ladies coming forward to address an issue that heretofore has been considered taboo."
Take a Look at:Los angeles std testing
The test kits were part of an initial experimental program in 2009, but Ridley-Thomas's initiative is making the effort more comprehensive with new high-tech features and a community outreach component. Touch-screen computer kiosks are being rolled out in pharmacies throughout Los Angeles an an alternative to ordering the free kits online, enabling women to receive the kit immediately instead of waiting for it to come in the mail. According to the Los Angeles Times, the kiosks will eventually be available in community centers and schools. As for the community outreach, that's something that the churches are stepping up to tackle. Salya Mohamedy, a health staffer at Ridley-Thomas' Inglewood offices, spoke with LA Weekly about the social aspects that need to be addressed when it comes to STDs.
