Program Updates
Silicon Valley PRIDE 2023 Celebration Recap
The County of Santa Clara Public Health Department’s Sexual Health & Harm Reduction Program (SHHRP) celebrated unity and proudly showcased their commitment at the 2023 Silicon Valley Pride Parade and Festival offering festival attendees free STI testing, sexual health supplies and referrals.
This year, our dedicated team of 35+ volunteers and staff achieved the following milestones:
- Administered 44 Rapid HIV Tests
- Conducted 18 Rapid HCV Tests
- Performed 39 Rapid Syphilis Tests
- Provided STI testing for 33 clients
- Offered 8 PrEP referrals
- Distributed an impressive 10,350 condoms and 4,400 tubes of lubricant to hundreds of individuals.
We also extend a special appreciation to our CDPH partners with Optum Serve for their wonderful collaboration on mpox!
For a visual glimpse of Pride 2023, please explore our collection of photos and videos. We would like to express our profound gratitude to all the dedicated SHHRP staff, volunteers, and the Silicon Valley Pride organization for contributing to yet another successful year!
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PHD Tasman Move
We are delighted to inform you that several of our Public Health programs will move to a new office by September 18, 2023. The new address will be 150 W Tasman Dr., San Jose, CA 95134.
Public Health operates in more than 20 in-person locations countywide to be closest to the communities we serve. We will continue to operate in those locations. However, Public Health headquarters is moving from its longtime location in a former hospital near the Alameda in downtown San Jose to a new location closer to several other County departments in North San Jose. It is close to public transportation, so there are many climate-conscious ways to visit the new location.
The following programs will be moving to the new location:
- Office of the Director
- Science Branch
- Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Program
- Communicable Disease Investigation and Control Program
- COVID Prevention and Control Program
- Public Health Pharmacy Vaccine and Medical Supply Branch
Please update any contact information you might have for us. If you need assistance connecting with a Public Health program or staff member, the online directory may be helpful to you. The main phone number for Public Health Administration remains (408) 792-5040.
The following programs will continue to operate at 976 Lenzen Avenue, and the hours and activities of these services remain uninterrupted:
- Sexual Health and Harm Reduction Program
- Crane Center and STI Clinic
- Travel and Immunization Clinic
- Lenzen Pharmacy
- Tuberculosis Prevention and Control Program
- Vital Records and Registration
We look forward to working with you from the new location!
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Opioids Funding - Partner Announcement
We are pleased to share with you that the County of Santa Clara Public Health Department has been awarded a five-year, $11,125,000 cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to address opioid use, stimulant use, and overdose.
Public Health looks forward to collaborating with community organizations, health systems, government agencies, and community members to implement this work thoughtfully over the coming years. The funding enables partners to work together to support people who use drugs, improve the services they receive, and decrease their risk of overdose.
As the work gets underway, we’ll be sharing opportunities for participation that might be of interest to your organization. We will also be sharing other resources of interest, including more and better data that may help you in designing program activities or writing grant applications.
As one of only 40 local health departments in the country to receive this funding, we are hopeful about the change partners working together can bring for Santa Clara County.
Activities through this grant will:
- Get more and better data on the problem, and use it in program activities
- Ensure clinicians and health systems adopt best practices for opioid prescribing, overdose prevention, and substance use treatment
- Provide harm reduction supplies and education to prevent complications of substance use
- Enhance public awareness and reduce stigma
- Connect people to treatment and help them stay in treatment
Thank you to the following partners who supported the application:
Balanced Imperfection, Bay Area Community Health, Behavioral Health Services Department, Bright Heart Health, California Bridge Program, California Department of Health Care Services, California Department of Public Health, Community Health Partnership, Custody Health Services, Emergency Medical Services, Santa Clara Valley Healthcare, and Valley Homeless Healthcare Program.
If you have questions about this new program, please contact: Sarah Rudman, Deputy Health Officer, sarah.rudman@phd.sccgov.org.
Recent Publications
Chicago DPH analysis finds high rates of co-infection with HIV, STIs among Chicago mpox cases
A recently published Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) -led study of people with mpox in the 2022-23 outbreak found a high rate of coinfections with sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including gonorrhea, chlamydia, syphilis, and HIV.
Epidemiologists from the Syndemic Infectious Disease Bureau analyzed surveillance and mpox case investigation data reported to the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) between June 1, 2022, and March 9, 2023 and examined STI s and HIV diagnoses among people with confirmed and probable mpox.
Read the full article below:
Global case series uncovers mpox resurgence among previously infected or fully vaccinated individuals
In a recent study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, researchers elucidated the epidemiological and clinical features of mpox in individuals with a history of infection or vaccination, enhancing the understanding of disease behavior before immunity.
The London-based Sexual Health and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) All East Research (SHARE) Collaborative responded to the rising mpox cases, especially among those believed to have immunity.
They expanded the SHARE-Net initiative by collaborating with the Section of Infectious Diseases and Global Health at the University of Chicago. Global researchers from regions with high mpox prevalence joined to help understand the disease's epidemiological and clinical characteristics post-infection or vaccination from May 11, 2022, to June 30, 2023.
Read the study results below:
Opportunity to Participate in Storytelling Workshop
SFDPH Digital Storytelling Workshop
The getSFcba at SFDPH’s Center for Learning & Innovation is organizing a 3-day in person Digital Storytelling workshop in San Francisco next October (17, 18, 19) and are currently recruiting participants from historically marginalized communities who are service providers or clients/community members (or both) to share their stories and bring to light the relationship between their lived experiences, their intersectional identities, and how they’ve navigated HIV/STI systems of care and prevention, as well as the impact that these experiences have on their physical, psychological, and emotional wellbeing.
There is a straightforward application with a 9/20/2023 deadline. The workshop information can be found below:
HIV & Aging News
Legal Advocacy for Seniors
 The Patient Rights Advocacy team at Community Health Partnership is delivering a presentation on Legal Advocacy and the 60+ Community. This event will take place on October 6th from 1:30-3:00pm at the Sobrato Center for Nonprofits. Register for the event below:
Our Programs and Services
PrEP/PEP Navigation Services
We offer free and confidential services including:
- PrEP/PEP counseling and navigation services
- Support to start PrEP
- Linkage to a primary care provider if needed
- Assistance in accessing programs that help cover the cost of medication partially or in full
- Referrals
Submit a referral below to begin the process:
HIV & Aging Program
The Getting to Zero HIV and Aging Program aims to address care gaps for people living with HIV who are over the age of 50 in Santa Clara County by connecting and linking individuals to needed the clinical and non-clinical services.
Join our program by filling out the referral form linked below:
Clinical Health Education
Our team provides clinical health education on HIV, STIs, Hepatitis C and Mpox. Clinical health education is available on an individual or group training basis, depending on your preference. We can also provide resource materials for providers and patients upon request. If you are interested in requesting these services, the referral form is linked below:
Scan the QR code below to get connected to our services
Join a committee and get involved!
Governance Team
The Governance Team is the governing body of the Getting to Zero program. It comprises of leaders representing a range of community organizations within the County and is responsible for helping set the strategic direction of the initiative and oversee and track program activities and services.
PrEP/PEP Access Committee
The focus of this committee is on building PrEP provider capacity within the community, including organizing trainings focused on integrating PrEP screening within clinical practice, prescribing PrEP, and implementing effective outreach strategies.
HIV & Aging Program Committee
The HIV and Aging Program aims to assess community needs and collaboratively plan our program. The HIV & Aging program will provide clinical and non-clinical services to anyone who is living or working in Santa Clara County 50 years and older living with HIV.
If you are interested in joining any of our committees or would like more information about them, please email us at GettingtoZeroSCC@phd.sccgov.org or visit our website: www.gettingtozeroscc.org
Interested in Joining the Countywide Condom Distribution Program?
This program is administered through the Sexual Health and Harm Reduction Program. To start receiving free condoms and lubricant at your site, please e-mail
HIVPrevention@phd.sccgov.org.
We will send you a form to complete and send to the State Office of AIDS (OA) for approval. Once approved, OA will send you a re-usable electronic order form and you will be able to order directly from the State (free of charge) on a monthly basis.
If interested and applicable, please also do the following:
1) Add your venue to the condom finder map on http://www.teensource.org/condoms/free by e-mailing STDprograms@essentialaccess.org and with a request to be added.
2) If your agency is interested in receiving a condom dispenser for your venue, take a look at http://www.totalaccessgroup.com/, send an email to HIVPrevention@phd.sccgov.org with your preference, and specify where in the venue it will be displayed and accessible to your clients.
In alignment with the National HIV/AIDS Strategy, the Office of AIDS’ Condom Distribution Program focuses on the following populations:
• People living with HIV/AIDS
• Partners of people living with HIV/AIDS
• Transgender individuals
• Gay men and men who have sex with men
• Injection drug users
• Sex workers
• Sexual and needle-sharing partners of gay men
• Women at high risk of acquiring HIV via sexual partners
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Order your FREE HIV & STI Home Test Kits!
When you know your #HIV status you have the power to take control of your health. Let’s #StopHIVTogether.
It is a pleasure to announce that California Department of Public Health, Office of AIDS (CDPH-OA) is expanding their OraQuick HIV self-test kits to all counties, including Santa Clara County, in California, through the Building Healthy Online Communities: Take Me Home program (BHOC-TMH).
Order your test kit here: www.takemehome.org
#StopHIVTogether #MyTestMyWay #HIVTesting #HIVTestingDay #HIVAwareness #TestingTogether #HIVTesting #HIVSelfTest #SelfTest #KnowYourStatus #GetTested #HIVtestmyway
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