College announces sexual health awareness week

Sexually transmitted disease (STD) rates are alarmingly high among college-age kids. It's important that campuses across the country do all they can to combat this growing issue by encouraging students to get tested often. 

Recently, The South End, the newspaper for Wayne State University (WSU) in Michigan made October 3 the start of sexual health week to educate students on STD prevention. The school will offer free STD testing to students 24 and under, along with hepatitis A and B vaccines.

"I think just raising awareness is one of the bigger steps to help prevent disease,” WSU student Ashley Rassega said, quoted by the news source. "It is scary how much not having knowledge about a particular issue can put you at such a great risk."

BestCollegesOnline.com reports that the most common STD found on college campuses is the human papilloma virus (HPV). It has been estimated that 50 percent of sexually active people will get the virus in their lifetime. A close second is chlamydia, mostly due to the fact that 25 percent of people who have it will not exhibit symptoms.