Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1996. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1996. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Reuters NewMedia, Inc. - Wednesday, 20 November 1996.
"We have the tools to address these diseases," said Dr. Judith Wasserheit, director of STD prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), at a press conference on Wednesday. "When we roll up our sleeves and use them we actually make considerable progress, but as a society we have yet to marshall the will, a broad based coalition, and sustained resources to get the job done."
Better prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases can help avoid costly -- both monetarily and emotionally -- problems such as pelvic inflammatory disease, ectopic pregnancy, infertility, and cervical cancer, as well as the spread of HIV-infection, according to the report.
One study suggests that HIV infections drop more than 40% when other STDs are diagnosed and treated. And STD-related genital ulcers are estimated to increase the risk of HIV transmission from men to women 10 to 50 times, and from women to men 50 to 300 times.
While the CDC did not collaborate on the new report, called "The Hidden Epidemic: Confronting Sexually Transmitted Diseases," the government organization "welcomes the efforts of the IOM to bring national attention to this public health problem," according to a statement released this week. Five out of the top 10, or 87% of the infectious diseases reported to the CDC are sexually transmitted, including chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, AIDS, and hepatitis B.
The rates for gonorrhea and syphilis, and to some extent chlamydia, have dropped in this country, but they still outstrip the rate in other industrialized countries. Currently the U.S. has 50 to 100 times the gonorrhea rate of Sweden, and 8 to 16 times the STD rate of Canada.
The report emphasizes four major strategies for STD prevention, including:
-- overcoming barriers to healthy sexual behavior, including a lack of communication in the mass media, between parents and children, or between sexual partners concerning STDs.
-- developing strong leadership, greater investment, and better information systems on STD prevention.
-- developing innovative STD-related services for those at greatest risk, including adolescents.
-- ensuring access to quality healthcare for STD screening and treatment.
About 30% of teens and young adults lack health insurance, even though they are at greater risk for STDs; 3 million of the 12 million new STD cases diagnosed every year occur in teenagers.
One step may be greater commitment of managed care organizations, such as health maintenance organizations, in STD prevention, according to Dr. Kathleen Toomey, director of the Epidemiology and Prevention Branch of the Atlanta Division of Public Health, and member of the committee that compiled the new report. Insurance companies need to reimburse for treatment not only for enrolled plan members, but their sexual partners as well.
"In general, third party payers have not been as proactive on these issues as the IOM committee thought they should be," she said. "There is a lot of work to do."
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