Pennsylvania: Young People Learn It's Smart to Take the Test for HIV

For 18 years, the local Planned Parenthood affiliate has dispatched peer educators to schools, by invitation, to talk with teens in ninth through 12th grades about how to prevent STDs and unintended pregnancy. A weekly class offered through the year is now being held in the CAPA, Langley, and Westinghouse high schools in Pittsburgh, as well as in Sto-Rox and Wilkinsburg middle and high schools.

At one school recently, peer program coordinator Phelipe Johnson, 23, talked about the risk factors for HIV and the need for students to get screened. Planned Parenthood follows CDC guidelines that call for all persons ages 13 to 64 to be screened for HIV routinely in health care settings, Johnson said.

"We encourage them to go to their local clinic or hospital and get tested every three to six months, depending on their behavior," Johnson said. "Are they doing it? It's tough to say; it's tough to find out, we hope they are." He added, "We now have 250 peer helpers; altogether we see between 800 and 1,000 students."

According to the Southwestern Pennsylvania AIDS Planning Commission, groups particularly affected in the region include African Americans who are unaware of their sex partner's HIV risk factors; those with other STDs; and the poor. The main risk factors are sex without a condom, sex with multiple partners, and IV drug use.

The coalition and other groups will hold local testing and awareness events to mark National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day on Feb. 7. For more information, telephone the coalition at 1-877-732-0401.

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