Ribbon-cutting & Grand Opening Ceremony Wed., May 30^th Clinic, at AHF Healthcare Center, will provide free screenings for STDs & HIV on Wednesdays from 4pm – 7pm

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) will open its newest Wellness Center in Temple Hills, Maryland this week, offering free, confidential screenings for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) from its location in the AHF Healthcare Center/Temple Hills at 4302 St Barnabas Rd Ste #B, Temple Hills, MD 20748. The Wellness Center, which will formally open with a ribbon-cutting and grand opening ceremony on Wednesday May 30^th at 2:00pm, will then be open for services for walk in visits from 4pm to 7pm.

WHAT: GRAND OPENING & RIBBON-CUTTING CEREMONY:

AHF open Temple Hills Wellness Center to offer free screenings for STDs and HIV

WHO: Ravinia Hayes-Cozier – Program Director for Suburban Maryland Ryan White A

Mayor Jack Sims – former mayor of District Heights Maryland

WHERE: AHF Temple Hills Wellness Center

AHF Healthcare Center
4302 St Barnabas Rd., Suite B

Temple Hills, MD 20748

(301) 423-1071

WHEN: Wednesday, May 30^th 2:00 pm

Wellness Center hours: Wednesdays from 4pm to 7pm

MEDIA CONTACT: Mike McVicker-Weaver +1(202) 568-1706 Michel.McVicker@aidshealth.org

AHF Wellness Centers are designed to make testing and treatment for STDs accessible, convenient, and affordable, as well as to encourage regular sexual health screenings for all sexually active people. Services offered include free HIV testing as well as free screening and treatment for Chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis. The Wellness Center is a program of AHF Temple Hills Healthcare Center, AHF’s full-service clinic led by Dr. Leleka Doonquah that provides comprehensive medical care and treatment to people living with HIV/AIDS. For more information on AHF Temple Hills Healthcare Center, please call (301) 423-1071.

“We are excited to add our Wellness Center services to our Temple Hills Healthcare Center and expand our ability to offer STD and HIV screenings for sexually active adults in a convenient, confidential environment,” said Mike McVicker-Weaver, AHF’s Regional Manager for the Washington DC/ Baltimore Metropolitan Areas. “With cultural changes and the rise of mobile dating apps helping to fuel the rise of sexually transmitted diseases—especially among young adults—we want people to make routine STD screenings a key component of their plans for healthy living.”

STDs in Prince George’s County

Cases:

• Chlamydia cases in Prince George’s County, MD have increased 33% in the past decade, from 4,857 cases in 2007 to 6,753 cases in 2016[1].

• There were more chlamydia cases reported in Prince George’s County, MD in 2016 (6,753 cases) than the entire states of New Hampshire (3,467 cases), West Virginia (4,821 cases) and ten other states[2]
• Gonorrhea cases in Prince George’s County, MD have increased 26% in the past decade, from 1,409 cases in 2007 to 1,832 cases in 2016[3].
• There were more gonorrhea cases reported in Prince George’s County, MD in 2016 (1,832 cases) than the entire states of Alaska (1,454 cases) and Hawaii (1,467 cases) and eleven other states[4].
• Primary and secondary syphilis cases in Prince George’s County, MD have increased 16% in the past decade, from 94 cases in 2007 to 110 cases in 2016[5].
• There were more primary and secondary syphilis cases reported in Prince George’s County, MD in 2016 (110 cases) than the entire states of Rhode Island (90 cases) and Utah (92 cases) and thirteen other states[6].

Rates:

• The rate of chlamydia in Prince George’s County, MD has increased in the past decade from 581.1 cases per 100,000 population in 2007 to 740.4 cases per 100,000 population in 2016¹. This chlamydia rate in 2016 is higher than the United States overall (497.3 cases per 100,000 population)².
• The rate of gonorrhea in Prince George’s County, MD has increased in the past decade from 168.6 cases per 100,000 population in 2007 to 200.9 cases per 100,000 population in 2016³. This gonorrhea rate in 2016 is higher than the United States overall (145.8 cases per 100,000 population)⁴.
• The rate of primary and secondary syphilis in Prince George’s County, MD has increased in the past decade from 11.2 cases per 100,000 population in 2007 to 12.1 cases per 100,000 population in 2016⁵. This primary and secondary syphilis rate in 2016 is higher than the United States overall (8.7 cases per 100,000 population)⁶.

AHF operates twenty additional Wellness Centers in the US, including in the District of Columbia and eight states: Florida, California, Illinois, Mississippi, New York, Ohio, Texas and Washington. For more information about Wellness Center services and locations, please visit www.freestdcheck.org.

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS organization, currently provides medical care and/or services to over 900,000 individuals in 39 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific Region and Eastern Europe. To learn more about AHF, please visit our website: www.aidshealth.org, find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/aidshealth and follow us on Twitter: @aidshealthcareand Instagram: @aidshealthcare