Record 2.3 million new STD cases in America as federal funding cuts hinder prevention projects
The federal government continues to slash funding towards state and local preventative projects
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Your support makes all the difference.The rate of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) spreading across the US has reached a record high, with nearly 2.3m new cases in 2017 according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
It’s the fourth year in a row that the level of new STD cases has risen nationwide, with the latest figure including cases of chlamydia, gonorrhoea and syphilis.
Meanwhile, the US federal government has continued to slash support for state and local programmes focused on preventative projects, with a roughly 40 per cent drop in funding over the past 15 years.
Analysts from the CDC and national health advocacy groups held a press conference in Washington to discuss the latest troubling figures, calling on Congress to immediately provide $70m towards combatting the growing issue.
"The US continues to have the highest STD rates in the industrialised world … and it preys on the most vulnerable among us,” said David Harvey, executive director of the National Coalition of STD Directors. ”Here's a quote for members of the media. Ready? It is time that President Trump and Secretary [of Health and Human Services Alex] Azar declare STDs in America a public health crisis."
Researchers suggested another problem potentially causing the rate to increase in part is due to doctors failing to provide STD tests to many of their patients.
"We’ve been sliding backwards," said Dr. Gail Bolan, director of the CDC's Division of STD Prevention. "Everyone needs to ask their doctor, 'should I be tested for STDs? I hear they're going up.'"
The CDC, which did not immediately respond to requests for comment, will release an annual report detailing the 2017 STD rates next month. However, the agency has already begun stressing the need for new treatments, expressing concern that bacterium like Neisseria gonorrhoeae,which causes gonorrhea, is becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotic treatments.
"Our nation urgently needs additional treatment options for gonorrhoea," Ms Bolan said.
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