MTV'S GYT Campaign Spurs Nationwide Movement to 'Get Yourself Tested'

National Campaign with the Kaiser Family Foundation, Planned Parenthood and
Partners Triggers Youth Conversation, Helps Drive STD Testing

STD Testing Doubles at Many Planned Parenthood Clinics During April

NEW YORK, June 2 /PRNewswire/ -- In recognition of National STD Awareness
Month (April), MTV, leading pop-culture personalities, the Kaiser Family
Foundation, Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) and its nationwide
network of Planned Parenthood(R) health centers, and other partners banded
together for an aggressive public information campaign to promote testing for
sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) among young Americans under age 25.
Today, the partners announced several results which suggest that many young
people across the country heard the call to GYT ("Get Yourself Tested"). In
many Planned Parenthood health centers, for example, youth testing rates
increased more than 50 percent during the month of April 2009 over the
previous year.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), one in four
teen girls in the U.S. have at least one common STD. Other estimates find that
as many as one in two sexually-active young people will contract an STD by age
25 - and most won't know it.(1) In response to these facts, the GYT campaign,
an extension of MTV and Kaiser's Emmy and Peabody-winning "It's Your (Sex)
Life," informs young people about STDs and promotes testing and treatment as
needed. Since the launch of GYT on April 1, 2009, the call-to-action has been
embraced by young people across the United States, as the campaign unfolded
on-air, online, on mobile devices and in health centers.

Some positive results from the month of April include:

-- Planned Parenthood Health Systems in North Carolina and South Carolina
experienced a more than 100 percent increase in clients (both male and
female); in the St. Louis Region, Planned Parenthood reported a 100
percent increase in less-likely-to-test males, as well as a 61 percent
increase in female clients.
-- At campaign launch, "GYT" was one of the most-searched terms
on Google, most-discussed videos on YouTube and also generated
significant attention on Twitter. GYT-related videos have now been
streamed over 400,000 times. Thousands continue to track and engage
with the campaign on Facebook and Twitter.
-- Testing for gonorrhea among men and women increased in multiple
markets.
In fact, Planned Parenthood of Georgia experienced a 64 percent
increase
in the number of men tested for gonorrhea, while at a Planned
Parenthood
in South Central New York, the number of women tested for gonorrhea
rose
nearly 70 percent.
-- At Planned Parenthood of Greater Iowa, the number of men tested for
HIV
more than doubled. The Planned Parenthood of South Texas and the
Greater Memphis Region also experienced marked increases in male HIV
tests, with a nearly 40 percent increase in the region. Planned
Parenthood in Southwest and Central Florida, Indiana, Northern New
York,
and Southeastern Pennsylvania, to name a few, showed significant
increases in the number of women tested for HIV. In fact, Planned
Parenthood of Indiana, 45 percent more women were tested for HIV this
April over last year.
-- GYT09.org, the campaign's Web hub, provided information to nearly
300,000 unique visitors during April, serving as a resource for facts
about STDs; talking tips on how to discuss STD testing with partners
and
healthcare providers; and connecting young people to nearby testing
centers and other resources. Tens of thousands of young people
accessed
local testing resources through GYT's online and mobile tools.
-- During just two days of $5 testing, Planned Parenthood of the Rocky
Mountains conducted 2,754 chlamydia and gonorrhea tests, compared to
the
usual average of 156. Additionally, the Planned Parenthood
Association
of Bucks County experienced an over 60 percent increase in women
tested
for chlamydia, and at Planned Parenthood of Illinois, 51 percent more
men were tested for both gonorrhea and chlamydia.
-- An all-star collective of pop culture personalities carried the GYT
message far and wide, from Soulja Boy tweeting "WTF is GYT" to
nearly 200,000 fans on Twitter to Perez Hilton's GYT video
generating over 1,000 comments. Flo Rida, The All-American Rejects,
Asher Roth, N.E.R.D., Santigold, Joanna Garcia, Kid Sister, Chester
French and Joy Bryant also promoted GYT via their social marketing
networks, spreading the word and urging young people to GYT.

-- GYT Community Kits were distributed to over 1,500 clinics, youth
organizations, public health departments and other groups across the
country to provide programming materials and resources for local
efforts
to encourage STD testing.

"The results speak for themselves. Young people around the nation heard the
GYT message in April and went out to get tested," said Stephen Friedman, GM of
MTV. "GYT will continue to live as part of It's Your (Sex) Life, and as young
people continue to carry the GYT banner forward so that eventually every
sexually active person under the age of 25 gets tested for STDs."

"We're very encouraged by the early results of GYT, especially the marked
increase in testing at the local clinics and health centers that participated
in the effort," said Tina Hoff, Vice President and Director, Entertainment
Media Partnerships, Kaiser Family Foundation.

"Through more than 450 public outreach and education events across the
country, Planned Parenthood GYT's critical health care message reached more
than 20,000 people," said PPFA President Cecile Richards. "Combine that with
the viral nature of the campaign and the early numbers our health centers are
reporting and we know we've found an innovative tool to reach teens and young
people in a way that they will listen, learn, and, then, make healthy
choices."

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), of the
approximately 19 million new STDs (also referred to as sexually transmitted
infections or STIs) that occur every year in the U.S., about half are among
those 15 - 24 years of age. Since STDs often have no symptoms, most of those
who are infected don't know it. Lack of information, misconceptions and
social stigma keep many people from getting tested. Others may mistakenly
believe they have been tested as part of general health care. Testing for
chlamydia and gonorrhea, two of the most commonly reported STDs, is easier
than ever before with many clinics now offering urine-based tests. Rapid HIV
tests can provide results in as little as 20 minutes with a swab inside the
mouth. Diagnosis and treatment of STDs is critical to safe guarding personal
health, fostering sexual responsibility and addressing the wider STD epidemic.

The GYT: "Get Yourself Tested," campaign was launched to normalize and promote
routine testing for STDs among Americans under age 25, with an emphasis on
screening for two of the most common STDs, Chlamydia and Gonorrhea, and also
for HIV, the most serious STD. From "OMG" to "LOL," acronyms saturate young
people's everyday vernacular, acting as common methods of communication.
Playing off mobile and Web slang, GYT is an easy way for young people to talk
about sexual health and getting tested for STDs. GYT aims to help young people
internalize the risk of STDs -- as individuals and as a generation -- seeking
to eliminate taboos and stigmas surrounding STDs and STD testing. GYT will
continue throughout 2009 as an extension of MTV and Kaiser's Emmy and
Peabody-winning "It's Your (Sex) Life" partnership to promote responsible
decision making about sex.

Since 1997, the Kaiser Family Foundation and MTV have partnered on an
extensive, Emmy and Peabody Award-winning public information campaign on
HIV/AIDS, other STDs and related sexual health issues. The partnership
includes targeted public service advertisements (PSAs), entertainment and
other special programming, news segments, and free resources, including an
informational guide developed especially for the campaign, and an extensive
website www.itsyoursexlife.com.

For more information on GYT, please visit www.GYT09.org.

(1) http://www.ashastd.org/learn/learn_statistics.cfm, Cates JR, Herndon NL,
Schulz S L, Darroch JE. (2004). Our voices, our lives, our futures: Youth and
sexually transmitted diseases. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

About MTV
MTV is the dynamic, vibrant experiment at the intersection of music,
creativity and youth culture. For over 27 years, MTV has evolved, challenged
the norm, and detonated boundaries -- giving each new generation a creative
outlet and voice that entertains, informs and unites on every platform and
screen. On-air, MTV is the number one rated full-day ad-supported cable
network for P12-24. Online, MTV.com averaged 8.5 million monthly unique
visitors during the first quarter of 2009 -- up +6% from Q4/2008 and up +6%
year-over-year. Total video streams for the first quarter of 2009 increased
21% over the same time period last year. And MTV's successful sibling networks
MTV2, mtvU and MTV Tr3s each deliver unprecedented customized content,
super-serving music fans, college students and young American Latinos like no
one else. MTV is part of MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B),
one of the world's leading creators of programming and content across all
media platforms. Wanna know more? Come on in ... www.mtvpress.com

About The Kaiser Family Foundation
The Kaiser Family Foundation is a non-profit private operating foundation,
based in Menlo Park, California, dedicated to producing and communicating the
best possible information, research and analysis on health issues.

About Planned Parenthood Federation of America
Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) is the nation's leading sexual
and reproductive health care advocate and provider. Planned Parenthood
affiliates operate nearly 880 health centers nationwide, providing high
quality medical services and sexuality education for millions of women, men,
and teenagers each year. We work with allies worldwide to ensure that all
women and men have the right and the means to meet their sexual and
reproductive health care needs. For more than 90 years, Planned Parenthood, a
trusted health care provider, has done more than any other organization in the
United States to improve women's health and safety, prevent unintended
pregnancies, and advance the right and ability of individuals and families to
make informed and responsible choices.

SOURCE MTV

Janice Gatti of MTV, +1-212-846-8852, janice.gatti@mtvstaff.com; or Rakesh
Singh of The Kaiser Family Foundation, +1-650-234-9232, rsingh@kff.org; or
Diane Quest of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, +1-202-973-4851,
diane.quest@ppfa.org