‘Ready To Play’ and ‘Just A Prick’ Billboard placements began the week of August 1^st starting in Los Angeles and will continue to be placed nationwide through the end of August in the 17 states AHF services are located

Prevention campaigns come at a time when STD infection rates continue to increase while HIV infection rates continue to decline

As the world continues to return to its new normal, one thing is evident; STDs continued to rise. The CDC indicates a growing number of new cases, and these statistics don’t seem to be slowing anytime soon. To address this, AIDS Healthcare Foundation has launched a new advocacy and awareness campaign “Ready To Play.” The intent is to remind the public of the urgent need for individuals to protect themselves. The new 2020 CDC report provides profound insight to STD trends in the US and the effects of COVID 19.

In 2020, more than 2.4 million cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis were reported, and were the most common STDs found. According to the CDC, the 2020 surveillance report demonstrates that even during a pandemic STDs remain a significant public health concern. Undoubtedly, STDs have the potential to lead to serious health consequences, especially if untreated. In some cases, it can increase one’s risk of contracting HIV.

AHF has been promoting sexual health and STD screenings through its innovative public awareness and billboard campaigns for the past several years in response to the overall skyrocketing rates of STDs nationwide, particularly among young people and men-who-have-sex-with-men.

Past AHF billboard campaigns addressing STDs include ‘Gonorrhea Alert’, launched in June of 2018 which was a nationwide effort to educate the public about a drug-resistant strain of the STD. The “Gonorrhea Alert” billboard campaign was a follow up and parallels AHF’s syphilis prevention and treatment billboard campaigns that have included “Syphilis is Serious” billboards which launched January of 2019 and the “Syphilis Explosion” outdoor advertising campaign which first starting running in 2014. That campaign was followed by AHF’s “Syphilis Tsunami” campaign which ran in Los Angeles in 2016.

AHF’s second campaign “Just A Prick” encourages the public to know your status and get tested. Although HIV infection rates have been declining since 2015, there are still currently over 1.2 million people living with HIV in the US and 13% of those individuals do not know of their positive status. “Just A Prick” sends the message that HIV prevention is quick and easily accessible. One prick and you get your results in 60 seconds.

To find locations for free STD/HIV screening, visit www.freestdcheck.org

To find locations for expert HIV care, visit www.hivcare.org

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS organization, currently provides medical care and/or services to over 1.6 million people in 45 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific Region and Eastern Europe. To learn more about AHF, please visit our website: www.aidshealth.org, find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/aidshealth and follow us on Twitter: @aidshealthcare and Instagram: @aidshealthcare or subscribe to our podcast “AHFter Hours.”

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