EIPH to hold free STD testing clinic starting on World AIDS Day
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) - Eastern Idaho Public Health is holding a free STD testing clinic for the month of December.
The clinic will start on Dec. 1, which is World AIDS Day. The day serves as a memorial for people who have lived with HIV, died from it or had related illnesses. About 38 million people around the world live with HIV, says worldaidsday.gov.
“This is a good opportunity for us to promote other sexually transmitted infection testing along with HIV,” said Rachel Mugleston, nurse manager at EIPH. “Because we are seeing a large increase in STDs nationwide.”
Mugleston said syphilis has been largely increasing across the country and is trickling into Idaho. The rates of congenital syphilis are especially rising.
This testing clinic has an appointment request form here. People can fill it out online and the clinic can contact them to get their appointments scheduled. That way, people don’t have to call. Mugleston hopes this form will help people feel more comfortable with scheduling an appointment.
People don’t have to live in Idaho Falls to get tested. Anyone can schedule an appointment with the clinic.
Testing is not allowed to be anonymous, but it is confidential. An ID is the only thing required to get tested.
EIPH held a similar clinic in April 2023. For more information on how the testing process works, visit that news story here.
