Show Me the Money: State Investment in STD Prevention
A Project for the American Social Health Association
With 19 million new STD infections each year in the U.S. (a rate of 36 every minute), it might be surprising that states invest on average only $0.23 per capita for STD prevention. A new study conducted by the Policy Resource Group, LLC for the American Social Health Association found that states could do a better job at investing in health. “Investing in STD prevention would significantly reduce the cost of treatment for sexually transmitted diseases and for their health consequences,” says Dr. Beth Meyerson, the co-director of the study. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicate that in 2006, the U.S. spent $773.68 in treatment costs for every reported case of an STD. The study found that on average states fund less than ¼ of their STD prevention effort.
This study is the first of its kind to document what states are doing to fund STD prevention. In addition to financial contributions, PRG and ASHA also examined the existence of state policies which were geared toward enhancing STD prevention. Findings indicate that the state policy environment for public health and STD prevention generally is less than hospitable to good health and prevention. Several basic public health policies such as prenatal testing for STDs and electronic laboratory reporting of sexually transmitted infections were in place by less than half of the states.
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National and State Level Data (Searchable database)