Dr. Thurka Sangaramoorthy was quoted in a recent Diamondback article, "UMD to fund free one-on-one STI testing for the next several months." The University of Maryland will provide free individual STI testing appointments through the fall and spring. According to Dr. Sangaramoorthy, “We don’t talk about it even in sort of college settings in the way that we should. Providers in a lot of places are also not really engaging with young folks who are at most risk. There are lots of things that are going on that I think [are] really impacting some of these general sort of very, very scary trends and concerning trends.”
In light of COVID-19 canceling many of the regular events, the university’s sexual health budget has been shifted to provide sexually transmitted infections testing appointments instead. According to program coordinator Jenna Beckwith Messman, this change was enacted partially in response to students informing the University Health Center that testing was a priority.
Dr. Sangaramoorthy has worked for 22 years in the field of HIV research and commented on the high rates of Sexually Transmitted Infections in Prince George's County, noting that STIs have not been getting the attention they need, especially among college students — adolescents and young adults make up half of all STIs in the United States. Dr. Sangaramoorthy emphasized the importance of treating STIs comprehensively by providing education, awareness, screening and testing — procedures that are not implemented on a national scale due to a lack of funding, she said.
“We used to have sexual health clinics where you can walk in and get tested, or get screened, or pick up free condoms,” Sangaramoorthy said. “A lot of health departments have been drastically cut in the kinds of services. One of the major things that have disappeared across the country, including here, are these kinds of sexual health services that used to be very specific.”
“Sex is something that isn’t going to go away, it’s not going to stop. That really makes it very different from other times and situations in terms of behavioral change, so it is about sort of making sure that as a college campus that we are prepared.”
Read the Diamondback article here: https://dbknews.com/2020/10/30/sti-testing-umd-covid/
