AUSTIN (KXAN) – A Texas sexual health clinic with multiple locations across the state reported that the demand for sexually transmitted infection testing increased by 176% in 2021. Despite the clear need for the services, the clinic has seen a 53% reduction in funding during the last 12 months.
Texas Health Action’s Kind Clinic was founded in 2015 and, at no cost, “provides sexual health services in a safe and supportive environment with expertise in serving the LGBTQIA+ community,” according to the clinic. The clinic said it serves 11,000 people annually at its Central Austin location.
“Over the years, we have just seen such a need for this service,” said Christopher Hamilton, the CEO of the Texas Health Action. “Austin’s population is booming, and more people are moving to the area,” he said.
“Our current clinic program has been slowly able to meet that demand. But we’re getting to a breaking point,” Hamilton continued.
In addition to Austin’s population growth, STI rates have been rising nationally and in Central Texas. The CDC reported last year that cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis surged in 2021. Further, Austin Public Health said in April that visits to its sexual health clinic increased year of year by 38% from 2021 to 2022.
“Being on the front lines, as we are at Kind clinic, we’re working to provide treatment so that we can bring those rates down,” Hamilton said.
In 2021, Gilead Sciences, a pharmaceutical company that produces HIV medication, announced it would cut some of the revenue that sexual health clinics across the country were using to fight the spread of sexually transmitted infections, according to NBC reporting. This decision had its most significant impact in the South, including Texas, where the largest proportion of uninsured people live, per NBC.
Hamilton said the cut went into effect in January 2022 and caused some programs across the U.S. to close. The Texas Health Action said Gilead’s decision caused them to lose $9.2 million in funding.
“[It] has been a staggering loss for us,” Hamilton said. “We’re now at a point of we have to find other sources of funding in order to continue this work,” he continued.
Hamilton said that the State of Texas does contribute money towards HIV prevention and treatment, but not as much for STI testing and prevention. He said they now must look towards local entities for additional support.
“We’re headed in a direction that if we don’t have other investments from the government or city, we are going to be headed into a crisis where more people will have STIs and won’t have access to testing,” Hamilton said.