The department of health education and wellness will be hosting games and activities next week in observance of National Condom Week. Free and confidential screenings for sexually transmitted infections also will be offered Feb. 20 and 21. Lacey Leachman, graduate assistant for health education and wellness, said there will be information, games and free giveaways from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday on the Drill Field.
There will be such activities as the condom pool game on Monday, Leachman said. “‘What are your chances of getting an STI even while wearing a condom?’ is the slogan for that day, and the game is meant to illustrate how many people become infected with sexually transmitted infections.
“We will be giving out condom leis and information packets as prizes,” she added.
Leachman said it is important for college students to practice safer sex habits and take advantage of the free testing because they are at high risk for contracting STIs.
“College age students have a 1 in 4 chance of contracting an STI, and condoms are only 75 percent effective with perfect use,” she said.
Jennifer Fuller, supervisor of health education, said the Mississippi Health Department’s Mobile Medical Clinic will return this year to provide free and confidential testing for chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis and HIV from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the third floor of the Longest Student Health Center.
“A urine sample will be used to check for chlamydia and gonorrhea, while a blood sample will be used to screen for syphilis and HIV,” she said. “I want to emphasize that the swab test for men will not be used, just the urine sample will be needed.”
Last year the free testing was held in the Union, and Fuller and Leachman hope the change of location will not negatively affect the turnout.
Leachman said the health department will return sometime in March to give back the results from the testing.
“The most common STIs have no symptoms,” Leachman said. “I encourage people who are sexually active to get tested at least once a year, and if you are active with more than one person in a year, you should get tested more than once.”
Leachman continued that two-thirds of all STIs occur in people ages 25 and younger.
“Research has shown that college students are at a higher risk for contracting STIs than those of the same age who are not in college,” Fuller said.