In an effort to educate teens on sexual health during National STD Awareness Month, MTV is bringing back its award-winning program “GYT: Get Yourself Tested.” The network is collaborating with the Kaiser Family Foundation, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and Planned Parenthood. Several celebrities, including Keri Hilson and Perez Hilton, are getting involved in the “Celebs Talk GYT” program.

MTV released a press release on April 6 to announce the program, as the number of sexually transmitted diseases, or STDs, are dramatically rising among U.S. teens. It’s estimated that as many as one in two sexually active teens and young adults contract an STD by the time they’re 25, and most don’t even realize it.

The purpose of the GYT program is to get these sexually active young adults to speak with their doctors and their partners about getting tested for STDs. MTV will promote GYT on-air, on-line and at college campuses and health centers and clinics across the U.S.

Last year, GYT encouraged more teens and young adults to get tested at Planned Parenthood. The centers saw a 36 percent increase in the number of male testing patients, and an 18 percent increase in the number of female STD testing patients from 2008.

The program is also being sponsored by the National Coalition of STD Directors (NCSD), American College Health Association (ACHA), the American Social Health Association (ASHA) and the National Chlamydia Coalition (NCC). GYT is an extension of MTV’s partnership with the Kaiser’s Emmy and Peabody-winning “It’s Your (Sex) Life” program.

Anyone interested in obtaining more information about the GYT program can visit the official website at www.GYTNOW.org. The website includes facts about STDs; information about talking about STDs with partners and parents; and locations on where young adults can go to get tested.

Written by: Karen Benardello