Remember those old prevention campaigns where we were told about STIs?
And the years when AIDS was front-page news? They were also other times when Syphilis was killing thousands of people in the 19th or early 20th century. And not to mention Hepatitis C and its ravages until a treatment was found.
It’s been a long time since then, right? We are wiser now, of course. We are much better informed and have treatments that solve the problem, as in the case of Syphilis, or keep at a point where we can live a normal life, as with Hepatitis C, or even make us undetectable and un-transmissible, as with antiretroviral therapies against HIV.
So, why are new infections on the rise, and increasingly in older age groups?
Simple: we are lowering our guard and we also believe that it is enough to take PrEP or PEP, which protect you from HIV but not from other STIs. So, if we want to keep them in check in our community, remember:
Use protection, get tested every 6 months in just 15 minutes and in a 100% safe, anonymous and confidential way, treat possible STIs and HIV if you test positive, and repeat the whole process as one more routine part of your life. It’s very simple and it’s a win-win situation.
It is very simple and we all win.
Institutional support
The Helping Hand Project service has the support of the Agència de Salut Pública de la Generalitat de Catalunya, as well as the Ajuntament de Sitges.
