PLEASE NOTE: The current inventory of Safe in the City kits is nearly depleted. Most likely, by August 2009, we will no longer be able to ship Safe in the City kits and we will remove the order form from this website. Instead, you will need to download all the materials from this website. The video itself will be password-protected on this site and you will be asked to provide some basic contact information to receive the password.

Safe in the City (SITC) is a 23-minute HIV/STD prevention video for STD clinic waiting rooms. This video has been shown to be effective in reducing sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) among diverse groups of STD clinic patients. Safe in the City aims to increase condom use and other safer sex behaviors, and thereby reduce infections among patients who view the video in the clinic waiting room.

Safe in the City can be easily integrated into the clinic waiting room, requires very little staff time to set up with no disruption to clinic flow, and requires no counseling or small-group facilitation. Safe in the City was designed as a looping video where multiple playback options allow users to customize intervention delivery.

Safe in the City kits can be ordered online. Due to limited supply, we provide one kit per agency. Please click here for more information.

Safe in the City Net Meeting - (Archived)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Denver Health & Hospital Authority, with assistance from the Academy for Educational Development (AED), held a one-hour Safe in the City Net Meeting.

April 15, 2009, 2:00 PM EST
To view & listen to the net meeting, please click here. (Windows Media File).  

For quick facts and updates on the Safe in the City intervention, please click here.

Research and Development

Warner, L., Klausner, J.D., Rietmeijer, C.A., Malotte, C.K., O'Donnell, L., Margolis, A.D., Greenwood, G.L., Richardson, D., Vrungos, S., O'Donnell, C.R., and Borkowf, C.B., for the Safe in the City Study Group (2008). Effect of a Brief Video Intervention on Incident Infection among Patients Attending Sexually Transmitted Disease Clinics. PLoS Medicine 5(6): e135.

To review the Safe in the City research article, please click here.  

Interested in hearing Safe in the City podcasts? (media player required)

Dr. John Douglas, Director of CDC Division of STD Prevention speaks about the Safe in the City study findings. Click here to listen to the podcast or click here to read the transcript.

Dr. Lee Warner, Senior Scientist in the CDC Division for Reproductive Health, and the article's lead author, discusses the Safe in the City intervention and the study's results. Click here to listen to the podcast or click here to read the transcript.

Program Review Panel Information

The CDC requires all CDC-funded agencies using the Safe in the City intervention to identify, or establish, and utilize a Program Review Panel and complete Form 0.1113 to document this activity. The intervention researchers and developers are not involved in this activity. This a CDC requirement for their grantees, and all questions in this regard should be directed to your agency's CDC Project Officer or to the health department funding your agency's implementation of the intervention.

The Program Review Panel guidelines, instructions for completion of Form 0.113, and the form itself are available under the Related Links section of this website.

CDC Policy on Youth Peer Outreach Workers

CDC funded (directly or indirectly) agencies using youth (either paid or volunteer) in program outreach activities need to use caution and judgement in the venues/situations where youth workers are placed. Agencies should give careful consideration to the "age appropriateness" of the activity or venue. Additionally, agencies should comply with all relevant laws and regulations regarding entrance into adult establishments/environments. Laws and curfews should be clearly outlined in required safety protocols developed and implemented by agencies directly and indirectly funded by CDC.

If you have specific questions, please contact your CDC project officer.