An estimated 19 million Americans will be diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease (STD) this year. Minorities, particularly African-Americans, will make up the majority of those cases. Although many STDs are easily treated, they can cause harmful, often irreversible and costly complications such as infertility, cancer and death if they are left untreated.

State legislators have a role to play in trying to bring this epidemic under control. They can support legislative or regulatory changes that make it easier to identify and treat those who are infected, and they can support legislation that expands Medicaid coverage to include more screening for STDs. Legislators also can serve as health champions, bringing more attention to the problem of STD infections and making sure the issue stays at the forefront of public awareness.

Native Americans are more likely than whites to be diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease.  Project Red Talon strives to increase communication about STDs among Native American populations in an effort to address those disparities.  Learn more about Project Red Talon in this State News Article titled "Stopping the Silence: Program Opens Lines of Communication to Cut STD Rate Among Native Americans."

Chlamydia Screening and Treatment

Chlamydia is the most frequently reported STD in the United States.  This Legislator Policy Brief provides state policymakers with important information about chlamydia, how it can be treated and prevented, policy examples and advice from a state legislator and a public health official.

Expedited Partner Therapy for Sexually Transmitted Diseases

These Talking Points provide useful information to legislators about EPT; what it is, how it works, and what state legislators can do to become more involved in this issue.

Expedited Partner Therapy (EPT) Can Be Useful in Treating Chlamydia

This CSG State News article from March 2007 describes how EPT is one option doctors are using to treat the partners of patients diagnosed with chlamydia. This innovative treatment has caused debate in some states about its legality, but a new CDC-sponsored legal analysis available on the Web can help policymakers and health professionals begin discussing what regulations or laws might be standing in the way in their state.

Recent Releases: Gonorrhea Treatment Guidelines Changed

In April 2007, CDC announced new treatment guidelines for gonorrhea infections in the U.S. due to the rapid increase of cases of antibiotic resistance across the country. Now, there is only one class of antibiotics that is recommended to treat gonorrhea infections and no new drugs are in the pipeline. These CDC releases outline the situation and urge states to closely track any new cases of antibiotic resistance:

• Treatment Guidelines Press Release
• MMWR Report on Treatment Changes
• CDC Dear Colleague Letter

HIV/AIDS and STD Tool Kit

Today, an estimated 1 million Americans are infected with HIV, and sexually transmitted diseases are on the rise, affecting young people ages 15-24 at a rate of 19 million new infections each year. Minorities are bearing the brunt of these epidemics, particularly African-Americans, who made up half of all new HIV/AIDS infections in 2004. This Healthy States Tool Kit highlights new initiatives aimed at reducing infections, such as routine HIV testing and expedited partner therapy for some STDs. Sections include:

• Policy Overview: Preventing HIV/AIDS and STDs
• Populations at Risk
• Prevention Programs: Federal, State & Community-Based
• HIV/AIDS and STD Prevention Efforts: How Legislators Can Act
• Talking Points
• Resource List

The Internet and STD Center of Excellence

The STD Center of Excellence recently launched an interactive Web-based application to enhance communication between professionals who work in STD/HIV prevention.  Click here to access the Web-based application.

State-by-State Information on Expedited Partner Therapy

Expedited partner therapy (EPT) can be a useful public health tool for treating the partners of patients who are infected with certain kinds of sexually transmitted diseases. But since EPT involves doctors giving either prescriptions or medicine to a person who is not their patient – which may be prohibited by either regulatory or statutory barriers – many policymakers have had problems figuring out whether the practice is allowed in their state. This new evaluation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Center for Law and the Public's Health at Georgetown and Johns Hopkins universities, provides a state-by-state analysis of where EPT is allowed and if not, what kinds of regulations or laws stand in the way.

Racial and Ethnic Disparities in STDs and HIV/AIDS

African-Americans and Hispanics continue to shoulder a disproportionately large burden of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. According to the CDC's 2005 surveillance reports, 49 percent of the new HIV/AIDS diagnoses in 2005 were among African-Americans. Hispanics experienced an HIV/AIDS infection rate more than twice that of whites. And for all reportable sexually transmitted diseases in 2005, African-Americans and Hispanics were infected at a higher rate than whites. While efforts to reduce these disparities have made some progress in closing the gap, there is still much work to be done.

This article provides information about the rates of infection among African-Americans, outlines ongoing federal interventions and offers suggestions to state and local agencies for reducing the spread of HIV/AIDS and STDs. This article highlights the growing HIV/AIDS and STD infection rate among Latinas, the barriers to prevention, federal prevention efforts and how federal and state legislators are addressing the issue.