There is good news for members of the LGBTQ+ community who need confidential testing for sexually transmitted infections (STIs), as well as healthcare treatment.

The Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS, through a partnership with the Arizona Family Health Partnership (AFHP), has expanded services for confidential STI testing and treatment, as well as sexual and reproductive healthcare to Title X-eligible underserved, uninsured and underinsured people. In July the Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS, which serves the LGBTQ+ community in the Valley, started offering no-cost and low-cost Title X services. The fees for these services are based on income and family size while confidentiality is ensured.

Additional Title X services that the Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS provides include contraception counseling, on-site access to a wide range of contraceptive methods, reproductive life plan conversations, pregnancy testing and counseling. It also delivers services to help clients become pregnant, to address basic infertility and to support preconception health services. Patients also can receive breast and cervical cancer screening and referrals and the center provides counseling and services for adolescents.

Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS, in addition to providing the Title X-funded services, also administers primary care treatment, HIV/STI testing and treatment, along with transgender care, case management, behavioral health and nutrition services.

Arizona Family Health Partnership CEO Bré Thomas said expanding access to critical Title X services to the LGBTQ+ community will lead to improved overall and sexual health for a diverse, underserved population.

As the state’s designated Title X agency, Arizona Family Health Partnership pays for 58 health centers in 11 counties in Arizona and in San Juan County, Utah, to try to guarantee that reproductive healthcare and education are available and accessible to everyone.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Population Affairs (OPA), administers the national, federal Title X grant program, which prioritizes serving individuals and families with low incomes and is carried out through grants to more than 3,500 clinical sites, non-profit health centers and public health departments.

The Arizona Family Health Partnership also owns and operates www.SEXfyi.org, a site that provides complete, medically-based information about contraceptive methods. It also owns and runs The Collective Resource Hub, a directory for professionals who serve youths to find professional development opportunities, resources, events and partnership options.

To learn more about the Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS, visit www.swcenter.org. For more details about the Arizona Family Health Partnership, visit www.arizonafamilyhealth.org.

 

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