Not only is April national poetry month and a little more odd national pecan month, it’s also national STI awareness month.

STI awareness month is a time to remind people of the dangers of unprotected intercourse and to nudge people to get tested if they’re sexually active.

As a women I can’t stress how important testing really is. Some sexually transmitted infections such as chlamydia and gonorrhea can be asymptomatic meaning you or your partner may be infected and not show any symptoms and these infections can have some very serious consequences. While they are treatable if you aren’t diagnosed early they can possibly make you infertile. Which is something that scares the heck out of me.

It can be a hard subject to talk about, and too many people do blow it off but  the statistics are quite frightening. The Center for Disease Control estimates that around 19 million people will contract an STI this year and about half of them are under the age of 25.

So no matter how old you are when is the last time you were tested? Almost all counties have free or low cost STI testing and all insurance will cover the testing as well. This April help spread the word and let’s fight this growing problem.