FORUMS > Sexual Health Forum Rules

commoncoll said

AlphaTrigger saidFrom a business standpoint, it makes good sense to offer STI screenings.

His school does offer STI screenings. The question is on whether they should offer free STI screenings. I don't think tuition money from students should be used to pay for STI screenings. The burden of responsibility can't fall on the government or the school alone.

College students are adults who, unless living under a rock for the past decade, should recognize the need for safe practices. If they can't afford it, like the rest of the populace, they can go to community/county clinics.

Stop being stupid. Colleges offer free counseling and therapy to students. If mental health is an issue that should be offered for free, so should physical health.

Many students are idiots. College is a time to make mistakes, which is what they are doing when they get an STI. Offering a free service makes their lives much easier so they dont have to stress about money, spend an entire day to go to a community clinic (which may not be available) and can get on with their studies.

Chainers said

commoncoll said

AlphaTrigger saidFrom a business standpoint, it makes good sense to offer STI screenings.

His school does offer STI screenings. The question is on whether they should offer free STI screenings. I don't think tuition money from students should be used to pay for STI screenings. The burden of responsibility can't fall on the government or the school alone.

College students are adults who, unless living under a rock for the past decade, should recognize the need for safe practices. If they can't afford it, like the rest of the populace, they can go to community/county clinics.

Stop being stupid. Colleges offer free counseling and therapy to students. If mental health is an issue that should be offered for free, so should physical health.

Mental health is a whole different problem than accepting personal responsibility for voluntary personal actions.

College students are legal adults, such "idiot" students need to accept responsibility. And mistakes come with punishments. Throwing money at something is not a solution.

Conservative answer: just let them die. Nasty immoral people. They are probably gay or latino anyway. Why should I pay for them etc etc

GonzoTheGreat saidConservative answer: just let them die. Nasty immoral people. They are probably gay or latino anyway. Why should I pay for them etc etc

As an aside to your baseless editorial on a "conservative position". Do you know the reason why it is not offered?
Instead you inject politics into it.

Maybe because the state has a surprisingly LOW infection rate?
http://www.kdheks.gov/std/download/std_reports/FH2011_Stat_Pack_Data.pdf


Free STD testing here in my neighborhood of 90069 has little if any effect on the Syphilis/ Gonorrhea or Chlamydia infection rate.


That being said low cost/free testing is a good idea.

BTW whats the genital herpes rate in the UK with all of the free healthcare?

Thanks for your post.

I thought most schools offer this stuff for "free" but really put a hidden cost for health care stuff in tuition?

If you're performing behavior that is so risky that you can't afford STI screening after every instance, the problem isn't that the screenings aren't free but that you're frequently participating in risky behavior.

Yeah, people are gonna get their rocks off but if you're go out every weekend sticking your dick into anything or one that happens to be warm and moist it should be on you to carry the expense of STI screenings, not the public.

GonzoTheGreat saidConservative answer: just let them die. Nasty immoral people. They are probably gay or latino anyway. Why should I pay for them etc etc

Seeing as gay guys still have higher HIV and STI infection rates when compared to the general population, that is actually a pretty accurate statement. But, you see, the problem isn't that there isn't free testing available. It's that the majority of gay men participate in optional high risk behavior on a regular basis with a seeming disregard for the reality of the diseases/viruses being spread.

Don't have sex if you can't afford the repurcusions.

I am really, really shocked at how many people would be against this idea and all the slut shaming that is happening on a gay sexual health forum.

College students are a high risk/low income population, exactly the type of population where access to free testing can be extremely beneficial. All this talk of "if you have sex be prepared to pay for the consequences" is just ridiculous. Abstinence only policies do not work, simply telling them "don't have sex or if you do be able to pay out of pocket for testing" basically is telling them "don't know you sexual health status". If people know their status they are less likely to spread diseases.

errol88 saidSo my students have to write a proposal paper in which they propose to better something on campus or in the surrounding community.

While I was doing some research on some issues around campus, I found out that my school doesn't offer free STI screenings for students. The town--or anywhere near us, really--offers this to students, either.

(Students can get tested for STIs on campus, but they have to pay out the ass for them.)

When I brought this up in class, the discussion was torn: half the class thought offering them to students isn't necessary and that it promotes promiscuity; the other half was understandably outraged.

No matter how conservative of a school, it boggles my mind that a major university with thousands of students wouldn't offer this service. It's more a question of public health than it is a question of morality.

What do you all think?

I am an advocate for free HIV/STD testing for students! Unfortunately, my college did not offer the services for free. However, the CHD that I work for offers free HIV/STD testing out in the community. Students are having unprotected sex a good bit of the time.

I know at my University, rates of unprotected sex were around the 60th percentile for anal sex, about 30% for vaginal sex, and about 80% for oral sex. Time and time again we have students that come to the community locations to get tested, and we find more and more who are getting infected with primarily Chlamydia and Gonorrhea.

I'm sure at most, if not all college campuses have pretty high rates of unprotected sex, and offering free testing and treatment services to students on campus will help increase STD awareness and hopefully bring down the rates of HIV/STD transmission.

kbaketm saidI am an advocate for free HIV/STD testing for students!

While what you advocate for is "free" to those receiving it - that means that somebody else is paying for it. Not really fair (or free) is it?

southbeach1500 said

kbaketm saidI am an advocate for free HIV/STD testing for students!

While what you advocate for is "free" to those receiving it - that means that somebody else is paying for it. Not really fair (or free) is it?

Good point, but I'd rather pay for students to get tested so they'll know their status and protect themselves rather than let them infect others just to make matters worse. But of course, this is coming from a recent college graduate. I have no idea of the costs associated with that, but not even all students take advantage of free services like that, so I can't imagine burning a hole in someone else's pocket to help promote sexual health through free routine testing. I mean, I'm not saying STD testing should be free everywhere. Possibly it could get added to students tuition and fees? Even if they don't use it, it would be a good service to have. I mean, students pay fees for services that they never use, so I guess STD testing and treatment could be one of those services that may or may not be used.

What kind of optional health coverage do the students have through the university?

BkBkBk saidi think they should be concerned with their students education. your health is your business. the school should offer it but it shouldnt be free.

On the contrary, it is a matter of public health. STIs aren't always obvious when someone has one and it isn't like you can expect a community of youthful individuals to not have sex. Remaining ignorant of the risks and shunting the responsibility on the individual to minimize STI infection by knowing their health status when there aren't health resources around is a foolish approach.

Shouldn't the question to the students be what entity should be providing these services though? I've never been to a campus STI clinic for screens (nor am I aware of one) where I lived in the USA or here in Australia. They've always been run at the state or county government level. I'm not sure how successful you'll be in getting a supportive response from your goverment authorities in KS though.

kbaketm said Possibly it could get added to students tuition and fees?

Good idea!

OP, you see the arguments pro and con above. To get something done, you have to counter them. Are there statistics available on students?

Have you contacted local public health services? Have you contacted Planned Parenthood? Does the school have a physician associated with its health center who will discuss this?

Animus saidIf you're performing behavior that is so risky that you can't afford STI screening after every instance, the problem isn't that the screenings aren't free but that you're frequently participating in risky behavior.

Yeah, people are gonna get their rocks off but if you're go out every weekend sticking your dick into anything or one that happens to be warm and moist it should be on you to carry the expense of STI screenings, not the public.

We have to remember that sex is the driving force for nearly every life form on this planet. Expecting people to be 100% responsible 100% of the time is not possible. If it were, we'd have less STD's and STI's.

Shaming people into abstinence or altering their behavior doesn't work. It simply exacerbates the problem.

I'd also like to see some sources for the claims asserting that gay men are high to transmit diseases compared to heterosexuals. As far as students, I can't see how this is possible as gays demographically make up a smaller portion of just about any student body of any academic institution.

As a last resort I think students should realize that they can typically get STD/STI testing through state/government facilities. If I were a student in a college town I'm not sure if I'd want my school knowing of my sexual activity by getting routine checkups for STD's. I'd go the Department of Public Health for anonymous and private testing.

http://www.muskegonhealth.net/publications/localhealthrpts/lpho_value.pdf

It has been shown over and over that the return on public investment for free vaccinations and screening of infectious diseases is amazing. There is absolutely no economic rationale for not offering free STD screening.

The only discernible rationales are bigotry, short-sightedness, and lack of funds.

The Conservitives would argue that offering such services would encourage sexual promiscuity

themachine saidhttp://www.muskegonhealth.net/publications/localhealthrpts/lpho_value.pdf

It has been shown over and over that the return on public investment for free vaccinations and screening of infectious diseases is amazing. There is absolutely no economic rationale for not offering free STD screening.

The only discernible rationales are bigotry, short-sightedness, and lack of funds.

But it's only "free" to the people receiving those services. Much better approach would be for the school to offer these services and fund them through a fee charged to each student.

TropicalMark said

errol88 said... What do you all think?

Yer in BFE kansas.. what did you expect?

After 2.5 months, this is still the best answer.