Good Intent…Bad Idea
Somehow I feel like being the “Mayor” with this check-in isn’t so great…
Foursquare offers reward for checking in after STD checkups
While the results of an STD test are generally confidential, the decision to get such a check-up can now be more public.
Foursquare, the social network that allows members to broadcast their location and activities, has joined forces with MTV in an effort to remove the stigma attached with getting screened for sexually transmitted diseases. Members who “check in” for an STD test during the month of September will receive a special virtual “badge.” According to The Associated Press, the badge is one part of the cable network’s “GYT: Get Yourself Tested” campaign, which also encourages open communication with parents, partners and health care providers. To find your local testing center, click here, or text your zip code to GYTNOW (498669) on your cell phone.
More than 19 million new cases of STDs are contracted in the U.S. every year, and half of those cases will occur in people between the ages of 15 and 24. What’s worse, many who have chlamydia, trichomoniasis, gonorrhea, HPV, syphilis, hepatitis B or HIV don’t even know it. All STDs are treatable and many are curable, but the key is to get tested.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends everyone between the ages of 13 and 64 get tested for HIV as a matter of routine health care. Anyone who has had unprotected sex, or who has injected drugs, or has had a partner who has done either of these things, or whose partner’s other partners may have done these things, may have contracted an STD.
To reduce the risk, know your health status and the status of your partner. Get tested regularly. If your test comes back negative, stay negative by practicing safe sex — abstinence, monogamy, birth control, condoms — and not sharing needles. If the test comes back positive, get treated immediately. Treatment will help prevent serious health effects and reduce the risk of exposing others.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynewspoint/20100831/ts_ynewspoint/ynewspoint_ts3520
