HHS shared a national framework for addressing rising rates of sexually transmitted infections June 8.
Three things to know:
1. STIs sharply increased between 2020 and 2021, with syphilis rates reaching levels not seen since the 1950s, CDC data shows.
2. The STI Federal Implementation Plan outlines more than 200 actions federal stakeholders will take to achieve five goals:
- Prevent new STIs
- Reduce adverse STI outcomes
- Advance STI research, technology and innovation
- Address STI-related health disparities and inequities
- Improve coordination around national response efforts
3. HHS developed 14 core indicators to track progress toward these goals through 2025.
"These goals are meant to focus federal efforts on innovative and effective solutions to combat STIs, including expanding access to clinical care and developing new vaccines, point-of-care diagnostic tools, and therapeutics," Kaye Hayes, deputy assistant secretary for infectious disease and director of HHS' Office of Infectious Disease and HIV/AIDS Policy, said in a June 8 news release. "With the publication of the first-ever STI Federal Implementation Plan, these efforts serve as a call to action for collaboration across sectors in a coordinated national response to STIs.”
View the full plan here.