Guam - Saturday marks the National Pacific Island HIV/AIDS Awareness Day and today Public Health shared some of the latest stats on sexually transmitted diseases on Guam in the hopes to encourage more people to get tested. There are 233 reported cases of HIV on Guam and Chlamydia and Syphilis are on the rise. 

There were 20 cases of Syphilis reported in the last quarter alone with the largest group being men under the age of 35.  Public Health has also seen more than 170 new cases of Chlamydia in the last year with more than half of the cases being women between the ages of 15 and 25.

Public Health's Bernie Schumann told KUAM News ,"That's women in child-bearing years, so we're concerned about that because if we are not watching that closely we know that unprotected sex is occurring, then we know that it is being spread and prevent further spread of HIV in that age group."

Officials launched the Banyan Tree Project, which shares the stories of Asian and Pacific Islanders living with HIV/AIDS.  Public Health is urging all residents to get tested and stop the spread of STDs and HIV/AIDS on the island.