What Are Preventive Sexual Health Services?
A range of preventive sexual health services is available to help you stay healthy and detect and treat any problems early. These services are recommended by many leading medical organizations.*
Most of these services are now available at no cost under the Affordable Care Act, but check with your insurer to make sure your health plan covers them. Low-cost or free services might also be available at community health centers and family planning clinics. See the Where can I learn more? section to help you find a provider or nearby clinic.
Preventive services include:
- Screenings that test for sexually transmitted infections, whether or not you have symptoms
- Vaccines, such as the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, which decrease your risk of getting the virus that causes genital warts, cervical cancer, and some other cancers (anal, oral, and penile)
- Counseling to help you make healthy decisions. For example, you can learn about the best ways to protect yourself and your partner from getting sexually transmitted infections
Most preventive service recommendations by leading organizations are made for “men” or for “women.”
We understand that this is not inclusive terminology and, whenever possible, we have split the recommendations into those for people with a vagina/vulva and those for people with a penis.
If you are gender non-conforming or transgender, you can also find more guidance at the end of this guide.
*The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, and other national organizations recommend these services.
