April is National STD Awareness Month and the Student Health Center is using the opportunity to promote safe sex and emphasize the health impacts of sexually transmitted infections (STI).
Student Health Services will have an information table set up at Maxson Plaza on April 22 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. where peer educators will be answering questions, distributing free condoms and handing out brochures about STIs and STI testing.
Approximately 19 million new STIs are contracted every year in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Of those infected, approximately 50 percent are ages 15 to 24.
The Cal State Long Beach Health Resource Center, located in the Student Health Services building, provides free 20 to 30 minute counseling sessions for students concerned about STIs through a program called SHARE.
“Usually we meet with recently diagnosed students. Maybe the student has just been diagnosed and would like more information or they might be feeling anxious, upset or scared,” said Heidi Burkey, a health educator at the Health Resource Center.
“We will find out where they’re at, how they’re feeling and then give them information about the disease,” Burkey said. “We teach them about safer sex, partner communication, medications and how to reduce the number of outbreaks in the future.”
The health educators also offer follow-up sessions for the following weeks after the first meeting.
According to a CDC report titled “Sexually Transmitted Diseases Surveillance, 2007,” women are at a greater risk than men in getting STDs. Chlamydia and gonorrhea are the most commonly reported infectious diseases in America. If left untreated they can result in infertility.
“Within our clinic here at CSULB, we encounter STI-diagnosed students. Safer sex is something that we are really trying to promote,” Burkey said. “We are also seeing a few more unintended pregnancies this year than our regular numbers.”
Student Health Services also offers the free Sexual Health Awareness Workshop to all students. The workshops are taught three times per week by a trained and certified health educator, staff member or peer educator. The 1-hour-and-15-minute workshops cover STIs and HIV, birth control methods, information on the Well Woman Exam (pelvic exam, pap test and breast exam) and safer-sex tips.
The workshop also features an interactive aspect, where students participate in role-playing activities in order to learn more about partner communication.
“We are hoping to reach out to as many students as possible. We also hold presentations for fraternities and sororities,” Burkey said. “This week alone our staff attended one fraternity and two sororities, where they talked about sexual assault and alcohol abuse.”
According to Burkey, the student health center’s objective is to help students achieve their academic goals by staying healthy. She said the services offered by Student Health Services are in constant use by CSULB students.
“Our job is to meet with students who have questions about family planning, sexual health and diseases. We want to let students know that we are here and that they have someone to talk to,” Burkey said.
For more information visit www.cdc.gov/std. If you wish to take an STI test on campus, call (562) 985-2727.