|
African-American Syphilis Rates Four Times Higher Than
Whites According to New CDC Study
Local partnerships and national action needed to address
alarming rise of sexually transmitted disease in the black
community
The National Association of
County and City
Health Officials (NACCHO), representing the nation’s nearly
3,000 local governmental health departments, is deeply
concerned about the racial disparities demonstrated by the
newly released statistics on sexually transmitted diseases
(STDs) from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC). The 2018 STD Surveillance Report highlights that
rates of syphilis, chlamydia, and gonorrhea have surged for
the fifth year. The disparity in STD infection rates for
African Americans compared to other populations remains
high.
According to the study:
* Primary and Secondary
Syphilis - In 2018, the disparity between Primary &
Secondary syphilis rates for blacks and whites was 4.7 times
greater for black females compared to white females and 4.8
times greaterfor black males compared to white males.
* Gonorrhea - In 2018,
gonorrhea rates are significant and concerning in all
populations, but there is a clear disparity between blacks
and whites with black males rate 8.5 times that of white
males and black females rate at 6.9 times that of white
females.
|
Dr. Sandra Elizabeth Ford
Dr. Oscar Alleyne |
|
* Chlamydia - The rate
of reported chlamydia cases among black females was five
times the rate among white females (1,411.1 and 281.7 cases
per 100,000 population, respectively). The rate of reported
chlamydia cases among black males was 6.8 times the rate
among white males (952.3 and 140.4 cases per 100,000
population, respectively).
According to NACCHO’s Board
Vice President, Sandra Elizabeth Ford, MD, MBA, “Data
highlighting the overrepresentation of sexually transmitted
diseases in the African-American population is
disappointing, but not shocking.” Dr. Ford, a graduate of
Howard University’s School of Medicine continued, “More
emphasis must be placed on those issues that present
barriers to prevention and care of not only STDs but other
chronic diseases, such as poverty and lack of insurance, as
well as racism. Until we take a hard look at these factors,
we will continue to see the broad inequities in diseases
prevalence that we are currently observing.”
“At NACCHO, our mission is
to improve the health of communities by strengthening and
advocating for local health departments and supporting our
minority communities to eliminate the long-standing gaps in
care,” said NACCHO Chief of Programs and Services, Oscar
Alleyne, DrPH, MPH. “Reducing health disparities in our
minority communities is a prime directive of all local
health departments. Local health departments work hard every
day to reduce STD rates and improve health outcomes in their
communities by testing for, treating, and ultimately,
preventing STDs. This includes strong prevention and
treatment messaging, as well as the essential work of
disease intervention specialists who are on the frontlines
of efforts to disrupt the spread of STDs and prevent
outbreaks. But as NACCHO’s research has shown, they need
more support—current resources are not enough, and local
health departments and their partners need more to address
these rapidly rising STD rates.”
NACCHO has worked closely
with the CDC to support its local health department members
in actively working to mitigate rising STD rates, including
by supporting localities to set-up STI Express Clinics,
developing tools to support the utilization of CDC’s
forthcoming Recommendations for Providing Quality STD
Clinical Services, identifying and evaluating models for
connecting STI clinic patients to substance use disorder
treatment and other behavioral health services, as well as a
new project to look at innovative congenital syphilis
interventions. In addition, local health departments across
the country are actively using evidence-based strategies to
increase identification of STDs; assuring appropriate
clinical services for STD clients and their sexual partners;
conducting health education and promotion; using
surveillance data to inform programmatic efforts and focus
on populations disproportionately impacted by STDs; and
educating the public, providers, and key stakeholders on
effective policy approaches.
|
