Planned Parenthood Celebrates National Condom Week with Four Scheduled Pub Crawls

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ALBANY, NY (02/05/2011)(readMedia)-- National Condom Week will be celebrated in the Capital District from February 14th- 21st, 2011 with a series of four "pub crawls" by volunteers and staff from Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood (UHPP). During the pub crawls, outreach teams will visit local establishments, distribute "safer sex kits" and engage patrons in a "Fact-or-Crap" trivia game. Pub crawls are scheduled for establishments in downtown Troy, Warren Street in Hudson, as well as Pearl and Lark Streets in Albany. For specific dates and locations, go to www.uhpp.org.

During the trivia games, crowd members will be asked to answer questions focused on common myths and facts related to sexual health. Those who provide correct answers will be rewarded with prizes including condoms, Dunkin Donuts gift cards, or a safer sex kit which includes condoms, lube, a dental dam and finger cot along with information about UHPP's programs, services and hours. Each participating establishment will also receive a supply of special drink coasters which display the UHPP Captain Condom character and logo on one side, and the web sites for UHPP and the national GYT: "Get Yourself Tested" site sponsored by MTV and Kaiser Family Foundation.

National Condom Week is a week long effort to emphasize the importance of condom use. The campaign often uses humor as a tool to help educate young adults about serious risks involved with unprotected sex. In 2008 alone, there were over 1.5 million reported cases of Chlamydia and Gonorrhea. These STIs are both under-diagnosed and under-reported and if they go undetected and untreated they can lead to serious long-term health consequences. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, STDs cause at least 24,000 women in the U.S. to become infertile each year.

Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood has involved local businesses in promoting and celebrating National Condom Week for over ten years. "At UHPP, we work every day to provide preventative education about sexually transmitted infections, as well as affordable and confidential testing and treatment services", explained Patricia McGeown, President/CEO of UHPP. "National Condom Week is one of many activities we employ in our ongoing initiative to expand and improve sex education in the Capital Region. The cooperation and support of local businesses in this effort is wonderful and sincerely appreciated."

MTV and the Kaiser Family Foundation work with the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) along with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and others, to put on the nationwide GYT campaign to increase testing for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) among those under twenty-five years old.

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UHPP operates four health centers and serves over 10,000 patients each year in Albany, Columbia, Rensselaer and Greene Counties. All centers provide confidential STI testing and treatment, as well as HIV testing and counseling. UHPP educators provide over 500 programs each year to young people and professionals around the Capital Region.