Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1996. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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The Wall Street Journal - Wednesday, 20 November 1996.
Natalie Kostelni, Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal
The report, partly funded by the federal government, said that teenagers account for three million of the 12 million new cases of sexually transmitted diseases each year. Treatment, it said, runs in the neighborhood of $17 billion a year, including $7 billion to treat HIV infections.
The report by the academy's Institute of Medicine called for a national campaign to prevent and treat sexually transmitted diseases. Among other things, the institute said that health insurers and managed-care providers should shoulder more responsibility in treating and preventing such sexually transmitted diseases as HIV, chlamydial infection, syphilis, gonorrhea and hepatitis B. In addition, local, state and federal governments should pony up more money toward STD prevention. For every dollar currently spent annually on prevention, $43 is spent on treating sexually transmitted diseases.
The report's recommendations are certain to spark debate about the role of schools in sex education, disease prevention and treatment, and how far health-insurance coverage should go to help partners of plan members.
The study, released yesterday, said that schools should offer "age-appropriate" education and clinical services to help prevent, diagnose and treat students infected with STDs. It said that while schools should emphasize abstinence, they should also provide condoms. "There is no evidence that providing condoms increases sexual activity," said Kathleen E. Toomey, Georgia's state epidemiologist and a member of the study's panel.
"We would have problems with this report if you take it at face value," said Ginny Markell, vice president for programs at the National Parent Teacher Association. The PTA's position is to promote abstinence, leaving it up to each community to figure out how to teach sex education and provide health services for students.
Most school districts refuse to hand out condoms, let alone diagnose or treat STDs. The study found that only Massachusetts, New York and Washington, D.C., urge schools to make condoms available.
Don White, a spokesman for the American Association of Health Plans, which represents more than 1,000 health-maintenance organizations and other managed-care plans, said it would be "good medical practice" to treat a member's partners. Mr. White said his group will review the study and make recommendations.
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