However, because of their nature, it is more appropriate to study them as STIs, or sexually transmitted infections since that is the their most common form, and the manner in which they are typically spread. The distinction, particularly from a public health perspective, is that the term STI has a broader range -- meaning those who may become infected through needle sharing, sexual activity, or medical procedures; not necessarily those who develop the disease.
Studies show that approximately 1 million people are infected with an STI daily, almost half of those under the age of 30.
At least 25% of U.S. teenage girls have had a STI, 40% among those who have acknowledged they are sexually active. In the world, AIDS/HIV is the single largest cause of mortality in some countries (Sub-Saharan Africa) and one of the most hard to control and virulent STIs. In the United States, about 1.1 million individuals live with HIV / AIDS, and yet it remains the leading cause of death for African-American women between the ages of 25 and 34.
Education and safe sex are the two predominant means of controlling the epidemic.
It is through the public consciousness and education that the rate of STIs may be mitigated. Recognition, for instance, that AIDS threatened to become a global pandemic led to numerous United Nations educational campaigns and most of the developed world has aggressive education and prevention programs that have allowed AIDS to be slowed down. Significant research in HIV still hopes for a vaccine. In all STIs, contact tracing, education, and open communication are important measures to contain the infection.
Step Eight -- Implications
Prior to the invention of modern antibiotics and aggressive medical treatments, STIs were incurable and often led to dramatic...
Many creative geniuses of the past were said to have one or more STI, usually syphilis, resulting in a form of madness and later death. Once antibiotics came onto the scene, it was only HIV / AIDS, HPV and some forms of Hepatitis that remain incurable; but treatable. Public health contact tracing, testing potential partners of infected individuals, treated the infected and then tracing their contacts in return has become a powerful weapon. Frank discussion and open educational programs prove that societal morality must be put aside in order to help prevent and then mitigate the issue.
Step Nine- Conclusions and Recommendations
Clearly, STIs are one of the hidden epidemics that have enormous health and economic consequences, not just in the United States, but globally. They are hidden because many people remain reluctant to address sexual health issues in an open and honest way, especially in front of young people. They are dangerous because of the virulence of the pathogens, and the biological and social consequences of the disease. STIs are public health problems that lack quick and easy solutions because they are focused on human behavior, and modern society tends to remain prudish and confidential about sexuality. The process of education and treatment for STIs must involve all the stakeholders -- which means most of society. It must be collaborative, positive, optimistic, and non-judgmental. No one sector can eradicate STIs on their own, it will take a successful national, and then perhaps global health initiative to glean the appropriate awareness and cooperation to reduce the spread and infection rate.
REFERENCES
STD Statistics Worldwide. (2010). Avert.org. Cited in:
http://www.avert.org/std-statistics.htm
