The Cutting Edge of STD Testing, Treatment and Partner Notification

If you want to find out what's new in the STD testing world, don't miss Sex::Tech 2012. As we all know, STD rates are highest among youth and young adults, particularly youth of color and young men who have sex with men.

While most STDs are treatable (chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis), leaving one untreated can increase your risk of transmitting HIV, which to date, has no cure.

If you're wondering how the folks at STD Prevention and Control are using new media to reach out and provide access to clinical services, you won't want to miss this panel at Sex::Tech with leaders in the field from around the country. 

Brenna Simon, Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium:  Folks in Alaska are reaching out to Native youth with STD home testing. They adapted the evidence-based testing program, IWantTheKit, to provide free at-home STD tests via the USPS.

Kendra Shanley, RTI International: This collaborative team in California including RTI, ISIS and three county health departments, is also adapting IWantTheKit for young women, with the add-ons of confidential online results online, treatment information, optional e-prescription, partner notification, and referrals.

Yasir Shah, Washington, DC Dept of Health: The District’s School-based STD Screening Program has tested thousands of adolescents and identified and treated hundreds of youth infected with chlamydia / gonorrhea.  ISIS, Inc. has collaborated with DC DOH since 2010 to send text messages to students reminding them to call in for their results. And the jury's in; Text to phone works! 

Juan A. Mendez, Multnomah County Health Department: These folks in Portland are cutting edge. Their disease investigators began a project in 2010 to send SMS text messages to sex partners of people diagnosed with an STD, after making a phone, but before sending an email or a letter.

For more information, see CDC white paper on this issue:

http://www.stdpreventiononline.org/index.php/resources/download/1300