Introduction
Various diseases impose severe challenges for societies and require substantial research to implement the strategies aiming to improve the situations. Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) represent a public health issue that needs attention and careful consideration due to the implications it might have across different healthcare areas. The World Health Organization projected that around 1 million people become infected with any of four of the most common and curable STDs every day (Unemo et al., 2017). The state of New Jersey is also struggling with the problem of STDs. Therefore, the presence of STDs is undeniable, and it is critical to address the issue within the community and look for recommendations to reduce the number of infected individuals. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the spread and influence of sexually transmitted diseases, look at the statistics for the state of New Jersey, and evaluate the sides of the issue.
Main body
First, it is crucial to understand what the definition of STDs is and the specific diseases that fall under this category. STDs are infections that are spread from one individual to another during sexual contact and caused by bacteria, viruses, and parasites (“Sexually transmitted diseases,” 2020.). Numerous diseases can be classified as sexually transmitted diseases, including incurable ones. The range of those infections includes more than twenty different types, among which the most common are chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, and trichomoniasis (Unemo et al., 2017). Besides those infections, the STDs that represent a severe threat for communities are HIV/AIDS (“Sexually transmitted diseases,” 2020). Thus, it is possible to state that STDs are represented in various forms, and a high number of infections can be transferred to another person during intercourse. The definition of STDs and the range of included diseases emphasize the problem’s seriousness and the potential of their expansion.
The rates of STD’s emergence in the United States are high. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that there are nearly 20 million Americans with STDs every year (Hull, Kelley, & Clarke, 2017). The number of infections indicates that the costs of those diseases for the healthcare system are substantial. The CDC also reports that annual costs connected to STDs reach $16 billion, which represents a dramatic increase in comparison to the previous decade (Hull et al., 2017). Hence, it is possible to state that the issue of STDs not only presents a threat to the health of the individuals but also brings severe expenditures to the healthcare industry.
The STDs frequency among members of American society leads to the fact that new prevention and treatment measures should be integrated. The CDC recommends screening for the most common STDs on an annual basis among sexually active women, especially at the age below 25 (Hull et al., 2017). The health authorities seek to have a clearer picture of the diseases’ spread that will help to come up with a new imperative for the change under the circumstances of a rising number of cases. However, the data shows that the recommendation “has not been broadly translated into real-world clinical practice” (Hull et al., 2017, p. 3). Thus, the screening rates remain low, which can be explained by the social perception of STDs among young adults and the hesitancy of the professionals to discuss the screening with potential patients. In such a way, there is a significant scope of work and activities to perform in providing more education to the individuals and more training to the healthcare providers concerning STDs.
Various policies in public health, including STD prevention practices, play a significant role in the healthcare industry and among the stakeholders. The assessment showed that most of the states have intervention laws related to STDs, but the effectiveness of those laws remains to be unclear (Leichliter, Seiler, & Wohlfeiler, 2016). The studies also revealed that the policies related to criminal justice, poverty, or education, might help to decrease the STD rates, but this area requires more investigation (Leichliter et al., 2016). Consequently, it is critical to focus on the activities of the state’s policies and the evaluation of progress.
One of the most prominent measures directed at managing STDs is the presence of specialized clinics. In the US, STD clinics became an essential part of the healthcare industry. The crucial point is that those clinics have lower costs, taking into consideration that a substantial number of patients might not have health insurance (Hoover et al., 2015). Thus, STD clinics become a useful practice to treat infections due to their affordability and the level of expertise concentrated in a specific area. However, the sufficient presence of those venues is a challenge because, within the last decade, numerous STD clinics were closed due to the state and local budget cuts (Hoover et al. 2015). Therefore, there is a need to improve access to the services that provide STD treatment for all the patients, allowing low-income individuals to receive proper care.
The STD clinics, along with other prevention and treatment policies, play a critical role in public health among different states. According to the research, the most frequent reasons for paying the visit to the STD clinic were some health problems or STD symptoms, the willingness to go through STD screening or to be tested for HIV (Hoover et al., 2015). One can notice that the reasons are valid, and with proper policies and promoted principles, it is possible to increase the number of individuals going to the clinic for the STD screening purpose. Moreover, raising awareness about the current issue, providing more education to the stakeholder, and offering privacy and confidentiality to the patients can help to fight the STD problem and decrease the number of infected individuals.
At this point, it is interesting to look at the Affordable Care Act that aims to expand insurance coverage. The ACA increases consumer protection, highlights the significance of prevention practices besides care and treatment, and covers some services related to STD (Hoover et al., 2015). Nevertheless, the forecasts conducted by the Congressional Budget Office revealed that more than 10% of the nonelderly population would possess no health insurance up to the year 2023 (Hoover et al., 2015). Thus, there is still an evident need for venues that will offer STD treatment and promote prevention activities to reduce the growing rates of STD cases throughout the nation.
As the introduction section mentions, the state of New Jersey is also fighting the spread of sexually transmitted diseases among its population. The statistics reveal that in 2016, the rate of the infected individuals in NJ rose by 27% over the five years, which implies a critical rise in the percentage of the state’s residents (Delmore, 2016). According to the New Jersey State Health Assessment Data, the number of cases in 2018almost reached 50,000 (“Query results for New Jersey,” 2019). New Jersey represents one of the states with the highest number of STD cases, which leads to the need for undertaking specific strategies and integrating new services to combat the issue.
Thus, in NJ, authorities actively work on the current problem. As a response to the growing problem, the states’ Department of Health launched the STD Program that aims to prevent and reduce the influence of those infections in NJ (“Sexually transmitted diseases,” n.d.). The program includes prevention, screening, education, treatment, and surveillance activities (“Sexually transmitted diseases,” n.d.). Thus, the state’s authorities recognize the severity of the issue. The activities in NJ related to STD prevention and treatment include free, confidential treatment and testing, education and training services, partner notification services, technical assistance, and evaluation (“Sexually transmitted diseases,” n.d.). Hence, the authorities aim to provide useful and affordable measures to all the patients. The integration of different measures through collaboration with federal and local partners to decrease the adverse effects of STDs among the residents is a significant aspect in the state of New Jersey.
Conclusion
In such a way, the public health issue of STDs imposes severe challenges for the global community. On the example of the state of New Jersey, one can notice that active integration of prevention policies and activities can bring positive aspects to the struggle with the problem in the long run. Besides that, the increased numbers of STDs emphasize the need for the health department to collaborate with other authorities and increase the level of educating the community about the problem. On the negative side, the issue of STDs remains to be critical, and the number of infected individuals keeps increasing. In conclusion, the broader presence of STD clinics, an offering of free and confidential screening and treatment services are the primary steps to improve the situation. Moreover, educating the health providers about initiating the testing, and educating the individuals about potential consequences and the significance of protection measures can reduce the problem’s presence.
References
Delmore, E. (2016). New Jersey STD rates on the rise [Video file]. Web.
Hoover, K. W., Parsell, B. W., Leichliter, J. S., Habel, M. A., Tao, G., Pearson, W. S., & Gift, T. L. (2015). The continuing need for sexually transmitted disease clinics after the Affordable Care Act. American Journal of Public Health, 105(5), 690-695.
Hull, S., Kelley, S., & Clarke, J. L. (2017). Sexually transmitted infections: Compelling case for an improved screening strategy. Population Health Management, 20(1), 1-11.
Leichliter, J. S., Seiler, N., & Wohlfeiler, D. (2016). STD prevention policies in the United States: Evidence and opportunities. Sexually Transmitted Diseases, 43(2), 113-121.
Query results for New Jersey sexually transmitted disease data: 2012-2018 – count. (2019). Web.
Sexually transmitted diseases. (2020). Web.
Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). (n.d.). Web.
Unemo, M., Bradshaw, C. S., Hocking, J. S., de Vries, H. J., Francis, S. C., Mabey, D.,… & Peeling, R. W. (2017). Sexually transmitted infections: Challenges ahead. The Lancet Infectious Diseases, 17(8), 235-279.