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Yearly, Get Yourself Tested (GYT) launches online campaigns and outside activities to raise the awareness and promote sexual health and tackle the inexplicably increasing rates of STD among young people. The activity is held every April as it is the month for STD awareness.

An estimated of 19 million new cases of STD disease occur each year in the United State with approximately 9.5 million of them are young people 15-24 years of age, according to from the center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). One in two sexually active young people will contract with STD by the age of 25 and most of them will not know they have an STD.

It is recommended for young people who are sexually active to take the GYT at least once a year to know if their partner has STD. Recently, the Orleans and Genesee County Health Departments, together with their community partners guides the tester where they will be tested in their area, as reported by The Batavian.

A sexually active person should take the GYT to protect their health from STD. They must also tell the truth about their sexual history and STD testing with their doctor and inquire if they should be tested of not. For those who are not comfortable talking about their sexual history to their health care provider, there options in some location that give private testing.

There are some locations that can make STD testing more suitable like Planned Parenthood that has an online appointment scheduling system to organize the tester's time according to their availability. 

It is also important to those sexually active people to know the guideline to prevent having STDs like getting vaccinated to prevent getting Hepatitis B and Human Papillomavirus (HPV), not having sexual intercourse with anyone who are suspected to have STD and using some contraceptives like a condom. Being faithful to secure both partners' health is also important. Using unsterilized needles and syringes may also lead to acquiring HIV.

There are some disadvantages when the sexually active person didn't take the test on time such as infertility, pelvic inflammatory disease, loss of pregnancy, compromised the immune system and damage organs. Not getting a GYT on time can also damage the sexually active person brain. Syphilis can also affect the nervous system, especially spinal cord.

According to Medical Daily, it can also lead to cancer and other diseases and even death. Having HPV can increase the person's risk of cancers in the vulva, vagina, and penis. However, experts said that they have to identify what type of HPV can lead to cancer.