Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin: Gets Wisconsin Tested

“Get Yourself Tested” Campaign Reaches Thousands of WI Residents

Milwaukee, WI – Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin (PPWI) provided over 7000 STD tests and reached 412 new patients through its participation in the “GYT ‘09: Get Yourself Tested” campaign, a collaborative effort between Planned Parenthood Federation of America, MTV and the Kaiser Family Foundation.

In partnership with the Wisconsin State Lab of Hygiene, PPWI provided free STD testing at all 26 PPWI family planning health centers across the state throughout April, resulting in a 145 percent increase in Chlamydia and HIV tests and a 285 percent increase in Gonorrhea tests administered at PPWI health centers in April 2008.

“STD testing is a critical component of reproductive health care,” said Teri Huyck, PPWI President and CEO. “We are pleased that so many people took advantage of the opportunity to receive free testing this month. But we want to be clear that we at Planned Parenthood will continue to offer affordable STD testing, along with other vital reproductive health services, to Wisconsin communities.”

PPWI supplemented free tests with an increased effort in its community education department, which reached out to organizational partners in the religious, Latino, African American, LGBT, teen and college communities to inform young people about the importance of STD prevention and early detection. Without treatment, STDs can lead to serious short- and long-term health consequences, including infertility. Some sexually related infections, like HIV, can permanently jeopardize a person’s health.

Planned Parenthood’s GYT campaign is part of a national initiative to increase testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among young people. Nationwide, the campaign spread online virally, with GYT09.org receiving more than half a million page views and more than 250,000 unique visitors. In addition, nearly 15,000 people located their nearest testing center by texting their zip code to the mobile code GYT09.

“Planned Parenthood is committed to providing the information and services people need to make responsible, healthy decisions,” Huyck continued. “The buzz created by the GYT campaign has been a huge success. The more people talk about the importance of getting tested, the more likely we are to effectively address STDs as a critical public health issue.”

To find a Planned Parenthood near you go to www.ppwi.org, or call 1-800-230-PLAN to schedule an appointment.

Posted @ 7:00 p.m.