Loretto Hospital is offering free STI and HIV screenings through June to raise awareness about early detection, a key factor in decreasing rates of sexually transmitted infections on Chicago’s West Side.
“We want to remove some of the stigma and discrimination associated with STIs through education and also work on some of the barriers to access to care,” said Dr. Carlos Zambrano, who has worked at Loretto Hospital for about a decade and is president of the medical staff there.
Loretto Hospital, which serves Austin, North Lawndale and West Garfield Park, started offering free STI and HIV screenings at the beginning of April to acknowledge this year’s National STI Awareness Week from April 14 to 20.
STI screenings, Zambrano said, help confirm subtle symptoms that often go unnoticed.
“If people don’t know they have it, they could spread it to others, and we want to decrease the number of STIs, instead of increasing the number of STIs,” Zambrano said, especially on the West Side, which has high rates of STIs.
Black people are disproportionately affected by STIs and HIV. According to the CDC, in 2019, African Americans accounted for 42% of new HIV diagnoses in the United States, but made up only 13% of the population.
In 2018, reported chlamydia cases from Black females were five times that of white females and nearly seven times higher among Black men than white males, according to the CDC. That same year, gonorrhea cases in the U.S. were 7.7 times higher among Black people than white people.
The Chicago Department of Public Health reported that North Lawndale and West Garfield Park were among the top three Chicago neighborhoods in 2020 with the highest reported rates of chlamydia — 2,378 cases and 2,255.4 cases per 100,000 residents, respectively.
West Garfield Park was also one of the three Chicago neighborhoods in 2020 with the highest rates of reported cases of gonorrhea, following Washington Park and Greater Grand Crossing, with 1,394.4 cases per 100,000 residents.
In addition to screening, Zambrano said there’s also preventative medication. Those who are at risk of getting an STI can take an oral antibiotic up to 72 hours after exposure to prevent syphilis, gonorrhea or chlamydia. There are also pills to prevent HIV after exposure.
“We are here to help with education, screening and treatment,” Zambrano said.
Loretto Hospital is offering free STI and HIV screenings Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Though appointments aren’t necessary, to make one, call (773) 854-5475, visit https://www.lorettohospital.org/ or walk-in to the clinic on the hospital’s sixth floor. It is located at 645 S. Central Ave.