Posts
Some beauty and barber shops and
nail salons soon could become part of STD prevention efforts in Douglas County.
At recent community forums to discuss chlamydia and gonorrhea prevalence in
north Omaha, participants suggested such businesses as places to distribute
information about these STDs.
“A lot of people get their hair
done, their nails done. They take care of the outside,” said Sherri Nared, the
county’s STD/HIV prevention specialist. “We want to make sure they take care of
the inside, too.”
At family planning clinics
nationally, 8 percent of females ages 15-24 tested positive for chlamydia, said
Monirul Islam, assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of
Nebraska Medical Center College of Public Health. In a local study, Islam and
colleagues found 12.6 percent of 312 people ages 19-25 in northeast Omaha
tested positive for either chlamydia or gonorrhea (11 percent for chlamydia
alone).
In addition, 34 percent of
participants reported three or more partners in the previous 12 months,
compared to 5 percent to 10 percent for males and females ages 15-24
nationally, Islam said. More than 80 percent said they had access to condoms
and expressed a willingness to use them, but just 58 percent reported actually
doing so, he said.
For more information about STD
testing in the county, telephone 402-444-7750.
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.
TOGETHER WE REMAIN STRONG!
