Prevention Matters

Partnership for Prevention’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Jason Spangler, was interviewed by Luis Perez and Shantell Jamison on Chicago Public Media’s Vocalo Overdrive about STD prevention and sexual health. The key message of the interview was the importance of getting screened for STDs. Dr. Spangler also discussed providing a continuum of care, privacy issues, shifting away from fear-based health messages, and why the STD prevalence is so high. Overall, Dr. Spangler emphasized the need to make prevention a priority, discussing how only a small percentage of health care funding actually goes into prevention. You can listen to the entire broadcast here. For more information on STD awareness month visit the National Chlamydia Coalition or the GYT campaign.

Jacky Fontanella
Partnership for Prevention Intern

National Chlamydia Coalition (NCC) member, Dr. Alwyn Cohall has been named today’s Huffington Post’s Greatest Person of the Day. Dr. Cohall is a pediatrician who has dedicated his career to improving the health and lives of the children in Harlem. He is a Professor of Clinical Public Health and Pediatrics at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and New York Presbyterian Hospital.

Dr. Cohall represents the American Academy of Pediatrics on the NCC and is an active participant in the public awareness committee. Through the Harlem Health Promotion Center and Project STAY, Dr. Cohall is tackling many of the major health problems faced by his community's youth. His work and dedication is truly an inspiration to us all. Congratulations on this well-deserved recognition, Dr. Cohall!

Mara Leff
NCC Intern
Partnership for Prevention

The National Chlamydia Coalition (NCC) recently launched its new Facebook page. The page features the coalition’s mission and goals and links to NCC resources. It will be updated with news and interesting information on chlamydia, preventive services, other STDs, adolescent health, and related topics.  Check out the latest post on a creative chlamydia screening and surveillance initiative in the United Kingdom. To support the NCC on Facebook simply visit our page and click the “like” button. Don’t forget to share it with your friends and colleagues.

...antibiotics and STD screening.

This week CDC released its annual sexually transmitted diseases surveillance report, which showed that chlamydia and syphilis rates in the U.S. continued to rise in 2009. However, gonorrhea reached its lowest level in almost 70 years. All three STDs can be easily treated with antibiotics but can have serious consequences, including infertility and organ damage, if left untreated.

According to the report, chlamydia rates increased by 3% last year, with 409 cases per 100,000 people—representing an all-time high for reported chlamydia infections. The rate increased by almost 20% since 2006. On a positive note, CDC believes that the increase is likely attributed to expanded screening, and not an increase in the disease.

Unfortunately, large disparities still exist among racial and ethnic minority groups, with young African Americans baring a large burden of the disease.

STD screening can help detect disease early and, combined with treatment, is an effective way to protect a person’s health and reduce transmission to partners. One of the continuing problems is that less than half of the people who should be screened for STDs, do so. To help improve screening, as well as prevention and treatment of chlamydia, Partnership for Prevention convenes and leads the National Chlamydia Coalition, whose mission is to reduce the rates of Chlamydia and its harmful effects among sexually active adolescent and young adults.

On May 20th, Partnership for Prevention’s work on the National Chlamydia Coalition (NCC) was showcased as part of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) monthly Public Health Grand Rounds series. The session, entitled "Chlamydia Prevention: Challenges and Strategies for Reducing Disease Burden," featured presentations from active NCC members Dr. Gail Bolan, State STD Director for California and Dr. Gale Burstein, a pediatrician representing the Society of Adolescent Health and Medicine. Dr. Burstein’s presentation highlighted two of the NCC’s publications and outlined our activities aimed to increase chlamydia screening. The CDC’s Dr. Raul Romaguera’s presentation listed the NCC as one of four key partners working with the CDC to reduce chlamydia rates.

Alana Ward
Program Associate
Partnership for Prevention

As many as one in two sexually active young people will contract an STD before the age of 25 so MTV, Kaiser Family Foundation, CDC, Planned Parenthood, Partnership for Prevention and others are urging young people to GYT: Get Yourself Tested for sexually transmitted infections (STDs). Untreated STDs may result in infertility, increase risk of HIV transmission, or cause cervical cancer.

GYT is the central hub for STD information that includes facts and tips for talking about STDs to partners, health care providers, or parents. On the air, MTV is featuring information about STDs on MTV News and mtvU Dean’s List. The MTV “How To” Show will feature how to talk to your partner about getting tested and how to ask your doctor which tests are right for you. The Health Center/Clinic Toolkit also has fact sheets for patients and other content that can be downloaded for free.

You can also find local options for STD testing or text your zip code to the GYT short code (498669) from a mobile phone to get a text with testing centers close to you.

Partnership for Prevention leads the National Chlamydia Coalition (NCC) which strives to reduce the rates of chlamydia and its harmful effects among sexually active adolescents and young adults through increasing screening rates, public awareness and provider education.

Susan Maloney
Senior Program Officer
Partnership for Prevention

Partnership recently awarded grants to several state and local organziations to improve preventive services.

With funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one-year grants were awarded to regional, state and local organizations to implement innovative strategies to increase chlamydia screening and follow-up care. The grants are also designed to encourage collaboration among local affiliates of the National Chlamydia Coalition (NCC). Comprised of 40 member organizations, the NCC was established to address the continued high burden of chlamydia infections, especially among women age 24 and younger.

Grants have been awarded to a variety of organizations, including county and state health departments, school-based health centers, a department of juvenile services, and a university, among others. The projects will address one or more barriers to chlamydia screening and will be designed to reach a variety of audiences. Lessons learned from the projects will be shared widely so that models can be replicated in other communities. For a complete list of grantees and project descriptions, click here.

Partnership also awarded six ACTTION State Grants for the implementation of innovative strategies to increase access to tobacco cessation treatments. Funds are to be used primarily for the development of state alliances/summit meetings and the creation of strategic plans. The projects will range from focusing on employer groups and health care systems to the uninsured and the behavioral health/substance abuse populations. For a complete list of grantees and project descriptions, click here.

With funding from the Pfizer Foundation, Partnership hopes to dramatically increase access to and use of proven tobacco cessation treatments through this grant program. The focus of the ACTTION state grants is system and policy change in tobacco cessation, rather than the delivery of programs or direct services.

I know that an untreated chlamydia infection can result in infertility, but many young women do not know. In today's Wall Street Journal, consumer health writer, Melinda Beck, addresses the facts about chlamydia infections and the challenges to getting young women screened routinely. In developing the article Melinda interviewed several members of the National Chlamydia Coalition (www.prevent.org/NCC) which is convened and operated by Partnership for Prevention, in conjunction with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Susan Maloney
Senior Program Manager
Partnership for Prevention




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Despite strong recommendations that all sexually active young women age 25 and younger receive a screening test each year for chlamydia, many websites offering health information fail to mention the importance of chlamydia screening. Health websites providing information to the public often discuss chlamydia infections, symptoms and treatment. But the vast majority of young women with chlamydia have no symptoms so making screening a routine part of medical care is strongly recommended.

Chlamydia screening is recommended by the US Preventive Services Task Force, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and many leading medical associations including the American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the American Medical Association. The consequences of untreated chlamydia infections include pelvic inflammatory disease, which may lead to infertility, chronic pelvic pain, and pregnancy complications. Chlamydia can be detected with a urine test and treated with common antibiotics.

The National Chlamydia Coalition, convened by the Partnership for Prevention and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has begun to reach out to health websites urging them to update their entries on chlamydia to make it clear to sexually active young women that chlamydia screening should be a routine part of their medical care. The coalition is pleased to have worked with the National Women’s Health Resource Center to update its chlamydia information to include screening. The article can be accessed at http://www.healthywomen.org/healthtopics/chlamydia. The National Chlamydia Coalition offers additional resources, including where to locate confidential STD screening services, at www.prevent.org/NCC.

Susan K. Maloney, MHS
Managing Senior Fellow & Senior Program Officer
Partnership for Prevention