Here’s why a sexual health clinic ended up at a Las Vegas church

With sexually transmitted diseases connected the rise, Southern Nevada nationalist wellness authorities are trying thing novel: opening a intersexual wellness session astatine a church.

On Wednesday, World AIDS Day, apical officials of the Southern Nevada Health District gathered to people the expansive opening of the session astatine All Saints Episcopal Church successful cardinal Las Vegas.

The clinic, successful a country disconnected a peaceful courtyard with benches and statues of saints, volition supply HIV tests and different services related to the prevention, detection and attraction of sexually transmitted diseases.

“We are making HIV investigating much accessible to radical successful our assemblage successful a determination that provides a harmless abstraction and environment,” Dr. Fermin Leguen, territory wellness serviceman for the Clark County nationalist wellness agency, said of the concern betwixt the territory and the church.

There is nary existing exemplary for a intersexual wellness session astatine a church, wellness territory officials said. However, the religion served arsenic a fashionable tract for COVID-19 investigating and vaccinations, making this newest endeavor thing of a earthy extension. Clients seen during the clinic’s brushed opening gave affirmative feedback astir the environment, said Lourdes Yapjoco, assemblage wellness caregiver manager

The Rev. Rafael Pereira, priest-in-charge astatine All Saints, sees the pairing of religion and session arsenic a earthy one.

“Our principles and our halfway values accidental we don’t judge, we don’t exclude, we don’t adjacent the doors,” Pereira said astir his 500-member religion connected Washington Avenue adjacent Decatur Boulevard.

“We unfastened the doors.”

STDs connected the rise

In Clark County, much than 10,600 radical are surviving with HIV, and 325 were recently diagnosed successful 2020, Leguen said.

“As we proceed to marque strides against HIV and AIDS, determination are inactive excessively galore radical successful the assemblage who are not alert of their HIV status,” Leguen said. “This means that they are not accessing the due attraction that tin support them healthy.”

Clinic services volition see investigating for HIV and different sexually transmitted diseases, pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to forestall HIV infection, telehealth visits with a wellness territory provider, intersexual wellness acquisition and providing condoms.

Early diagnosis is captious for radical with HIV truthful that they tin payment from antiretroviral therapy (ART). ART reduces HIV levels successful the bloodstream and HIV-related illnesses, and lowers the hazard of transmitting HIV to intimate partners. With ART, HIV-positive radical tin stay steadfast for galore years, according to the district..

Although HIV and AIDS were the absorption of ceremonial remarks Wednesday, they are not the lone concern.

New cases of HIV and AIDS successful Clark County declined by 4 percent betwixt 2011 and 2020, according to statistic from the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services

In the aforesaid timeframe, however, cases of chlamydia accrued by 60 percent, and gonorrhea by 214 percent, according to a snapshot provided by the wellness district. Cases of syphilis accrued by 259 percent, with cases successful newborns rising by 1,333 percent.

Pereira wants his religion to beryllium portion of the solution to a assemblage problem.

“As a church, we congregate people, we are successful interaction with them,” helium said. “We cognize their needs. and we person to accommodate to this satellite that is changing.”

Contact Mary Hynes astatine mhynes@reviewjournal.com oregon 702-383-0336. Follow @MaryHynes1 connected Twitter.