Counseling and HIV Testing

Healthcare providers should provide counseling to all persons with STDs, and recommend evaluation and treatment for their sex partners. Information should be provided about preventative measures and risk reduction interventions for STDs, including HIV, and should be tailored to each individuals’ risk behavior⁴. Although HIV screening is recommended as a routine component of the newly arrived refugee medical screening examination, it is particularly important to offer HIV testing to refugees found to have other STDs.

Further information on the prevention of STDs is available at the CDC Sexually Transmitted Diseases website and the 2015 STD Treatment Guidelines.

References

4. O’Connor EA, Lin JS, Burda BU, Henderson JT, Walsh ES, Whitlock EP; U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Behavioral sexual risk-reduction counseling in primary care to prevent sexually transmitted infections: a systematic review for the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Ann Intern Med. 2014;161(12):874-83.