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In 2008, Positive Impact started providing STD screenings and in 2009, the MISTER Center began in-house sexually transmitted infection/disease (STI/STD) screenings for syphilis, gonorrhea and Chlamydia for gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (MSM), thanks to a generous grant from the Elton John AIDS Foundation. In 2011, with the amazing assistance of the states' STD Director, Michelle Allen, the agency was selected to be an official STD test site for the state of Georgia. In April 2011, Dr. Dennis Melton, a physician Board Certified in both Infectious Disease and Internal Medicine with a medical practice at the Atlanta Medical Center, just a few blocks from the agency, joined MISTER with the generous gift of his time to provide treatment for clients who receive a positive screening result.
Men who receive STI/STD screenings at MISTER that end with a positive result for gonorrhea or Chlamydia and who qualify financially will receive free treatment in the clinic. If the individual has private medical insurance or has an annual income in excess of $25,000, he will be referred to Dr. Melton for treatment at his office rather than in the Men’s STD Clinic at MISTER. If preferred, anyone with medical insurance or financial ability to pay for treatment may opt to access treatment with any physician or clinic of their choice and are not required to receive treatment at the MISTER Men’s STD Clinic or at Dr. Melton’s office.
Free STI/STD screenings for gonorrhea and Chlamydia for gay, bisexual and other MSM are offered at 60 Eleventh Street NE, Atlanta, GA, 30309 Monday through Thursday from 10 AM to 7 PM, Fridays from 10 AM to 5 PM, and Saturdays from 10 AM to 2 PM. This screening (gonorrhea and Chlamydia) requires only a small urine sample for testing.
Free STI/STD screenings for syphilis are available for gay and bisexual men on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 10 AM to 4 PM only.
Additionally, if you have what you believe to be ACTIVE symptoms of a sexually transmitted infection, please go to your doctor or to the public health department IMMEDIATELY for testing and treatment. Doctor’s offices and the health departments can test you and treat you the same day; at MISTER, we send the samples to a laboratory for processing and you will not get your results back for up to 7 to 10 business days, and you should not go that long with active symptoms! If you are not sure if your symptoms are an STI/STD, one of our prevention specialists can help answer your questions. Please just give us a call and ask to speak to a Prevention Specialist in the MISTER STD Clinic.
REMEMBER! If you get treated for an STD but don’t have all your sex partners treated, and you then again engage in sex with those same partners or with someone those partners have had sex with, you run the risk of getting re-infected with the same STD! Who wants that?
For more information about STD screening please visit the MISTER Center website.
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