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April is National Sexually Transmitted Disease Awareness Month, and more than a dozen locations in Southwest Florida are offering free STD and HIV testing.
View Free HIV/STD Testing Locations in SWFL in a full screen map.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s most-recent HIV Surveillance Report in 2017, Florida is ranked third in the nation for new cases of HIV diagnosed.
Miami and Fort Lauderdale have the highest rates for metropolitan statistical areas in the country – with 47 and 40 cases per 100,000 people respectively. The Orlando-Kissimee area is ranked sixth in the nation, and Jacksonville also makes the top 10 at No. 9.
Two years before, the same surveillance report ranked the Cape Coral-Fort Myers region 16th in the U.S. – with 19 cases per 100,000 people.
But, that’s only counting HIV cases. Florida is also seeing a year-after-year rise in chlamydia and gonorrhea cases.
Copyright 2019 WGCU
