When times get tough (recesssssionnnn!), people turn to risky sex behaviors, sometime to “cope” (hmm), but more likely to put some money under the ol’ mattress or some narcotics into the ol’ bloodstream. This, coupled with a sharp rise in the disease since 2000, has made 2009 a banner year for syphilis. Between 2000 and 2007, incidences of the STD doubled nationwide, and in Forsythe County, N.C., the number of outbreaks has tripled since just last year. This has not been uncommon in the rural South, recently.
Savvy local health officials in that state knew that sometimes the cure is the disease, or at least a disease. It’s like fighting fire with fire, except the strategy here is to fight syphilis with diabetes. New campaigns are offering an incentive for taking the swab to your urethra: all the McDonald’s you can eat for $10 or all the marshmallows/cordless phones/guns you can buy at Wal-Mart for $10. Is the free gift card system working?
About half of the 603 people tested during the campaign were motivated by the Wal-Mart cards, estimated officials at the Forsyth County Department of Public Health. In fact, the program was so successful that the cards ran out. (Wal-Mart had no comment on being used as a popular lure for syphilis testing, says Daniel Morales, the company’s director of communications for the southeast region.) …
“I was in Rocky Mount [N.C.] where we screened 500 people in one weekend,” recalled Foust, “when a woman came up to me and said, you know, with their dollar menu, I can get five meals out of this.”
If you test negative, the gift card is worth five meals, but if you test positive, it’s good for five meals and a silver lining! Anyway, good program and all that. Remember, kids: unprotected sex may seem “rad” or “boss”… until you have to get your free Happy Meals. JK, be safe out there, and be sure to get your engine checked every so often. They probably won’t even swab you, because we have less invasive technology now! And McFlurries!
Savvy local health officials in that state knew that sometimes the cure is the disease, or at least a disease. It’s like fighting fire with fire, except the strategy here is to fight syphilis with diabetes. New campaigns are offering an incentive for taking the swab to your urethra: all the McDonald’s you can eat for $10 or all the marshmallows/cordless phones/guns you can buy at Wal-Mart for $10. Is the free gift card system working?
About half of the 603 people tested during the campaign were motivated by the Wal-Mart cards, estimated officials at the Forsyth County Department of Public Health. In fact, the program was so successful that the cards ran out. (Wal-Mart had no comment on being used as a popular lure for syphilis testing, says Daniel Morales, the company’s director of communications for the southeast region.) …
“I was in Rocky Mount [N.C.] where we screened 500 people in one weekend,” recalled Foust, “when a woman came up to me and said, you know, with their dollar menu, I can get five meals out of this.”
If you test negative, the gift card is worth five meals, but if you test positive, it’s good for five meals and a silver lining! Anyway, good program and all that. Remember, kids: unprotected sex may seem “rad” or “boss”… until you have to get your free Happy Meals. JK, be safe out there, and be sure to get your engine checked every so often. They probably won’t even swab you, because we have less invasive technology now! And McFlurries!
No comments:
Post a Comment