A Pennsylvania county is offering its residents free condoms in a bid to combat rocketing rates of sexually transmitted diseases nationwide.
People living in Delaware County, known as Delco, can order up to 10 condoms to be mailed directly to them in discreet packaging at no personal cost.
It comes as STI rates have skyrocketed both locally and nationally. Over half of Americans will have an STI in their lifetime, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, and experts speculate a drop in condom usage is to blame.
Covid may have led to increased transmission, the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said previously, as reduced access to healthcare during lockdowns meant people were infected for longer and had more opportunities to past their STI on.
Syphilis in particular has risen in Delco, with rates of symptomatic syphilis more than doubling from seven to 15 cases between 2020 and 2021.
