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April is National STD Awareness Month, and Planned Parenthood Southwest Ohio Region (PPSWR) is teaming with MTV and the Kaiser Family Foundation's "GYT: Get Yourself Tested" campaign, which hopes to increase education, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases among those under age 25.
Using statistics gathered by the Kaiser Family Foundation and other organizations including the Center for Disease Control, the "GYT: Get Yourself Tested" campaign's aim is to bring attention to the current situation.
"You need to be responsible for your reproductive health," said Laurie Housemeyer, vice president of external affairs for PPSWR.
Planned Parenthood Oxford is also joining the campaign by re-opening as a free STD testing center Thursday, April 23. The center was closed in 2007 because it was no longer financially viable.
"We recognize that college students need to have access to affordable and free care," Housemeyer said. "Since this is a campaign where we can offer that, (Oxford) was a logical place to go."
Miami University senior Taylor Dimke said he was surprised when the local Planned Parenthood closed in 2007 and plans on getting tested that day along with a few of his friends.
"I think it's a really good thing," Dimke said. "Some people don't have the option to do this very often, especially for free."
According to Housemeyer, Planned Parenthood Oxford will also provide survey cards for those who use the testing services Thursday. Through the survey cards, Planned Parenthood is hoping to reassess the need for services within the Oxford community, which will help them determine whether or not they should reconsider a permanent opening.
According to the last data set available to PPSWR, Butler, Montgomery and Hamilton counties are among the counties with the highest rates of gonorrhea and chlamydia in the state. Housemeyer said Hamilton County leads the way with the highest rates, of which include 3,291 cases of chlamydia and 2,073 cases of gonorrhea among residents ages 15 to 24.
The relatively high rates, for what could be considered a suburban county, are due mainly to a lack of education regarding sexual health as well as a lack of access to free sources of contraception, Housemeyer said.
Dimke said he feels it would be beneficial for the Planned Parenthood in Oxford to re-open permanently so students and others in the community have the opportunity to get tested every so often in the area.
"I think (Planned Parenthood re-opening) is actually a really good idea," Dimke said. "When I heard it was closing, I was kind of shocked. I think it would be good for both the community and the students alike."
Others, however, feel a permanent re-opening of Planned Parenthood would prove unnecessary and are not supportive.
"While I do feel it's important for students to be able to be tested for STDs, I feel as though they already have that opportunity from the (Student Health Services)," Miami junior Colleen Woods said. "I wouldn't like to see Planned Parenthood permanently re-opened mainly because of personal moral and ethical beliefs in not wanting to support a company that, at large, partakes in controversial behavior."
Miami University Student Health Services said they saw a "slight influx" in patients seeking STD screening and a much larger influx in patients seeking annual exams and birth control after Planned Parenthood Oxford closed.
Sara Skolnick, women's health nurse practitioner at Student Health Services, said she feels a permanent re-opening would be beneficial to the community.
"We both (Planned Parenthood and the Student Health Center) serve a need in the community - Planned Parenthood serves the Oxford community, not just students," Skolnick said. "We want people to always have options for places to go."
Housemeyer said she has also been working with a pro-choice group on campus in order to coordinate the event, volunteers and to promotion that will help to alert and remind students of the free testing event. She also said she hopes students and Oxford residents alike will take advantage of the free screening.
"We've done as much as we possibly can to make the community aware that we are going to be open that day," Housemeyer said. "It would be great if we could get a good turn out."
For more information on the "GYT: Get Yourself Tested" campaign visit www.itsyoursexlife.com.
