The Sexual Health Awareness, (STI) Prevention, & Education Tri-County Initiative is a public health collaboration that provides a range of community testing, service resources, and sexual health campaigns to Lowcountry residents, medical professionals, and businesses. SHAPE Tri-County aims to reduce HIV and STI rates in the region by engaging in coordinated, evidence-based initiatives and fostering a community-level approach to treatment and prevention efforts through two work groups focusing on clinical/surveillance and communications/marketing respectively.
A multidisciplinary team is a critical component to planning, implementing and evaluating interventions that focus on raising awareness of HIV and STIs, decreasing stigma around these illnesses and lowering the rates of HIV and STIs in the community. The South, as a whole, has high incident rates for HIV and STIs. Charleston and the Tri-County area are no exception. Collaboration is needed to effectively improve testing and combat the rising rates of these diseases. Using the Collaborative Model, SHAPE Tri-County will reinforce a shared agenda, shared measurement systems, mutually reinforcing activities, continuous communication, and a central infrastructure.
