Community health trailblazer seeks to curb rise in sexually transmitted infections, reduce disparities in reproductive health care and improve Black maternal outcomes in Boston
CONTACT:
Jamie McIver
857.488.5068
Jamie.McIver@bostonabcd.org
(BOSTON, MA) – ABCD Health Services has launched a TestandGo® kiosk pilot project through June 2025 to impact health equity and access in Greater Boston. TestandGo® kiosks are vending machines that offer FREE reproductive health products like as external and internal condoms, safe sex kits, gonorrhea, chlamydia, trichomoniasis urine test kits, pregnancy tests, generic levonorgestrel 1.5 mg, menstrual hygiene pads, tampons and menstrual cups. Products and testing are free, discreet, convenient, and available 24/7. TestandGo® kiosks also offer resources for follow up referrals to health centers and clinics that:
- Are in the neighborhood
- Empower the community to take charge of their health care
- Encourage early pregnancy testing to decrease the chance of poor outcomes.
ABCD President and CEO Sharon Scott-Chandler said the TestandGo® kiosk pilot project was created in response to reports by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention citing increases in sexually transmitted infections (STI). Non-Hispanic, Black or African Americans comprise 32.4% of all cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis nationally, even though they only make up 12.6% of the U.S. population. “ABCD felt it was incumbent on us to develop innovative solutions like the TestandGo® kiosks pilot program with the rise in cases of syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia – 2.4 million in 2023, including 3,882 cases of congenital syphilis, which can lead to stillbirths and neonatal/infant deaths,” she said. “The Boston Public Health Commission reports that Black residents in Boston experience the highest rates of infant mortality, preterm births and low birth weight. Our efforts are also aimed at improving health outcomes in our communities.”
TestandGo® kiosks are stationed outside of three ABCD sites:
- Roxbury/North Dorchester Neighborhood Service Center at 565 Warren Street in Dorchester
- Parker Hill/Fenway Neighborhood Service Center at 714 Parker Street in Roxbury
- Dorchester Neighborhood Service Center at 110 Claybourne Street in Dorchester.
A Title X grantee since 1973, ABCD Health Services offers access to reproductive health services through its Family Planning Partnership Program in collaboration with 13 partner agencies with services at 27 sites – community health centers, school-based health centers, and hospital primary care programs to support comprehensive family planning and sexual health counseling, education and medical care for residents in Boston, Brighton, Dorchester, Hyde Park, Jamaica Plain, Mattapan, Roxbury, South Boston and Worcester.
A leader in reproductive health, ABCD in partnership with Tufts University, established the Geiger Gibson Community Health Center in 1965 – the first in the United States, which is still operational in Dorchester. ABCD’s partner agencies include:
- Boston Medical Center
- Boston Public Health Commission
- Boston Children’s Hospital
- Codman Square Health Center, Inc.
- The Dimock Center
- DotHouse Health
- Harvard Street Neighborhood Health Center
- Edward M. Kennedy Health Center
- Mattapan Community Health Center
- South Boston Community Health Center
- Upham’s Corner Health Center
- Victory Programs
- Whittier Street Health Center
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