Sexually
Transmitted Diseases Are Skyrocketing Out Of Control
Diseases Called A
“Persistent Enemy Outpacing Our Ability To Respond”
“The United States continues to have the highest STD [sexually
transmitted disease] rates in the industrialized world”, and “We are
in the midst of an absolute STD public health crisis in this country”.
These are two of the statements made by public health officials
participating in a press briefing held in connection with the 2018 STD
Prevention Conference in Washington in late August. Preliminary data
reported from CDC indicate that 2.3 million cases of syphilis,
gonorrhea, and chlamydia were diagnosed in 2017, a total which
surpasses the 2016 total by more than 200,000 cases.
Chlamydia accounted for the largest share of these at 1.7 million
cases, followed by 555,608 cases of gonorrhea, and 30,644 cases of
primary and secondary syphilis, and more than 1,000 cases of
congenital syphilis. Up to 40% of the babies are stillborn or die
shortly thereafter, and survivors have a range of problems. Since
2013, STD cases showed a “steep and sustained” increase.
CDC’s Jonathan Mermin told the media “It is evident the systems
that identify, treat, and ultimaltely prevent STD’s are strained to
near the breaking point.”
Several reasons for the increases were discussed at the press
briefing, the most important included the following:
1.
Lack of awareness and education about STD’s and sexual health.
2.
Failure to screen and test for STD’s
3.
Stigma related to STD’s in America.
4.
Decrease in federal and state public health funding.
According to Michael Fraser, Executive Director of the
Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, “ We know what
works with STD prevention. We just don’t necessarily want to pay for
all of it. And so we really have to ask ourselves if we are to take
this seriously and we want to get on top of this, are we willing to
make that investment.”
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