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All Alaskans now can receive free kits to test themselves at home for three commons STDs: chlamydia, gonorrhea, and trichomoniasis. The kits are provided through a partnership among the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC), the Indian Health Service, and Johns Hopkins University (JHU).
“This has been a collective endeavor amongst tribal, state, and federal health organizations in an effort to curb Alaska’s endemic rates of chlamydia and outbreak of gonorrhea,” said Connie Jessen, ANTHC STD program manager. “We hope this at-home testing initiative will provide a viable addition to the currently available STD testing services in Alaska.”
Each kit is delivered in a plain brown envelope. The user collects vaginal, penile or rectal samples with swabs, seals them in test tubes, and returns them to JHU. Within two weeks, test results are available by phone or e-mail. Persons who test positive are referred to local providers for free treatment. Though the tests are confidential, positive results are reported to the state, as required by law.
“Infectious-disease experts at Johns Hopkins say research clearly shows that screening teens and young adults, who otherwise would not come into any clinic, for [STDs] may best be achieved by making free, confidential home-kit testing available over the Internet,” said Brenna Simons, ANTHC medical research associate. “From a public health standpoint, we hope this project reduces barriers to testing and care.”
To request a kit, Alaskans should visit http://www.iwantthekit.org, or telephone 866-575-5504. The kits are also available to residents of Maryland, West Virginia, Denver, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and select counties in Illinois.
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
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