Local health districts tackle rising STD rates
Emily Cadden’s favorite shift is Tuesday nights. While most government employees are packing up to go home, Cadden, a health educator with the Richmond City Health District, is preparing to conduct free sexually transmitted disease tests.
“A lot of patients end up thanking us for providing this service and say they wouldn’t have gotten tested otherwise,” Cadden said, who helps administer the screenings from 5 to 6:30 p.m. every Tuesday night at the Richmond City Health Department.
The weekly event is hosted by DoingItRVA, a sexually-transmitted infection awareness campaign by RCHD that coordinates prevention and treatment of HIV and STIs in Richmond, provides education on sexual health and wellness and works to reduce stigma surrounding substance abuse use and mental health.
Justin Wallace, an HIV prevention supervisor at VDH, said DoingItRVA focuses on people aged 15-19, 20-24 and 25-29. According to VHD, those age ranges accounted for 49 percent of new HIV diagnoses in 2018 in central Virginia.
Read more: https://www.virginiamercury.com/2019/05/05/local-health-districts-tackle-rising-std-rates/