In a recent Dear Colleague letter, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) discusses STD Awareness Month as an opportunity to raise awareness about what STDs are; how they impact our lives; and why prevention, testing, and treatment are so important. But, STD Awareness Month is about more than awareness: it’s also about action. To help public health and healthcare professionals take action during STD Awareness Month 2019, the CDC launched a digital toolkit with revamped resources from four STD campaigns and released a range of new resources.
- The digital toolkit assists STD prevention partners in planning their STD Awareness Month activities. The toolkit outlines each campaign’s theme and target audiences, and the corresponding materials available. It also includes tips on how to use the campaigns to enhance any planned activities, things to consider during implementation, and some helpful resources.
- In addition to the refreshed content and graphics, customizable articles are available for each campaign. The customizable articles can be modified to include a jurisdiction’s data and optional quotes from local leadership. They can then be easily shared with other partners, local decision makers, or the general public.
- Each campaign also comes with a widget that can be added to an organization’s website. The widget enables site visitors to locate an STD testing facility.
- And finally, CDC reorganized its General Resources page to make it more user-friendly. These resources could be used year-round.