A range of factors contribute to the disproportionate impact of STDs among African Americans.
April marks STD Awareness Month – an opportunity to increase awareness about these infections and ways to prevent them.
America’s Young People --
One in two s*xually active young people will get an STD by the age of 25 – most won’t know it. Even though they make up only 25% of the s*xually-active population, young people are particularly vulnerable to STDs. For the third year, CDC has partnered with MTV and others on the youth-oriented STD awareness and testing campaign, “GYT: Get Yourself Tested.” GYTNow.org is the central hub of the campaign, and shows young people how easy it is to get tested, offers tips on how to discuss STD testing with partners, parents and health care providers, and enables them to locate nearby testing centers by simply entering their zip code.
America’s Women –
Untreated STDs cause infertility in approximately 24,000 women in the U.S. each year. Chlamydia, like many STDs, has no symptoms and often goes undiagnosed and untreated. Testing and treatment are keys to reducing STDs in the U.S., as well as complications associated with them, like chronic pelvic pain and infertility in women. CDC is committed to reversing the negative impact of STDs by increasing chlamydia screening for young women, and has awarded grants of up to $20,000 each to several programs across the country. Award recipients are implementing local social marketing campaigns to promote chlamydia screening and other STD tests. CDC has awarded funding to:
Jackson County Health Department (Murphysboro, IL)
Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore)
Metro TeenAIDS (Washington)
Planned Parenthood of Kentucky (Lexington, KY)
Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan New Jersey (Newark, NJ)
Sacramento County - Department of Health and Human Services (Sacramento, CA)
Sanford Health (Sioux Falls, SD)
University of California, San Francisco (San Francisco).
Economic Consequences –
STD infections cost the U.S. healthcare system an estimated $17 billion annually. Infections among youth aged 15 to 24 account for nearly $10 billion of the $17 billion annual burden of STDs. The health consequences and cost of these infections highlight the need for ongoing awareness, prevention, and testing campaigns, such as GYT.
Posted By: Reginald Culpepper
Tuesday, March 29th 2011 at 3:25PM
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