One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Kiosks in South L.A. to Sell Low-Cost Home STD Test Kits
Photo by 20after4 via Flickr
Think you may have contracted a bacterial STD recently? Soon, you'll be able to scoot on down to South Los Angeles and pick up a home testing kit to find out for sure.
According to CBS News, L.A. county health officials are setting up about eight kiosks in the area that will offer the take-home tests at a lower charge than what a person might pay at a clinic. The effort is intended to combat the fact that our county has the highest rates of chlamydia infections in the country, and the second highest rates of gonorrhea infections. The most disproportionately affected group is young minority women from South L.A.
The L.A. County Department of Public Health's website reports that the kits were made available in 2009, but interested parties had to order them online. Now, the high-tech kiosks will provide a quick place to pick them up.
The tests will be sent to local labs, and test-takers can get their results online or by phone.
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
