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NYC public hospitals using emojis to reach out to teens about sex

Posted at 12:55 PM, Jul 19, 2016
and last updated 2016-07-19 12:55:54-04

A New York City public hospital system has started a new campaign to reach out to teenagers about sexual and reproductive health – emojis!20160718-NYC-YouthHealth-Emoji

According to the New York Times, NYC Health & Hospitals have created messages for Instagram and Facebook featuring different emojis. The posts are designed to reach young people ages 12 to 21 and encourages them to seek confidential care for sexual and reproductive health.

The posts link to a new Health & Hospitals website that maps out locations of all the Y

outhHealth services sites in New York City where they can get health care regardless of ability to pay, immigration status, gender identity or sexual orientation.

Health & Hospitals saw 152,000 adolescent patients last year, the New York Times reports.

More than 38,000 were tested for sexually transmitted diseases, 30,000 were tested for pregnancy and about 2,400 gave birth, according to a news release from the system.