NEWS

CHAPEL HILL -- Estimates released today (Feb. 24) show more than 9 million new sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) among youth ages 15 to 24 every year in the United States. The infections will cost more than $6 billion in direct medical costs, as reported in research from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the latest issue of the journal Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, published by The Alan Guttmacher Institute.

"These numbers on the human and financial costs of STDs in youth should be a wake-up call for the nation," said Joan Cates, principal investigator of a project in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Journalism and Mass Communication assessing the magnitude and impact of STDs on youth. "We’re not using the tools already available to fight these infections, and we’re letting down our youth because of it."

For the first time, researchers estimated the annual number of new infections in youth from the eight major STDs: chlamydia, genital herpes, gonorrhea, hepatitis B, HIV-AIDS, human papillomavirus (HPV), syphilis and trichomoniasis. Other scientists described the economic and emotional impact of the infections.

A report also released today by the School of Journalism and Mass Communication summarizes the implications of the estimates and offers solutions to the problem. "Our Voices, Our Lives, Our Futures: Youth and Sexually Transmitted Diseases" calls for open lines of communication among all the stakeholders.

"At the most basic level, we are not communicating well enough to make a difference," Cates said. "We need a comprehensive national dialogue on the issue. Our youth panel told us loud and clear that no one solution will work for everyone. They recommend that we – parents, youth-service providers, teachers, clergy and policy-makers – listen to youth more and trust them to make informed decisions about their sexual health."

The project’s youth panel called for ongoing conversations rather than one-time events to communicate accurate and timely information. This exchange about sexual-health issues needs to come from multiple sources, panel members said. The youth panel also asked for confidential counseling that would enhance self-esteem and respect for the choices of others.

The project’s advisory panel of experts in public health, economics, behavioral science, medicine and communication recommended evidence-based solutions, namely those with demonstrated effectiveness in reducing the risk of STDs in youth. These solutions include communicating openly, teaching about options, reducing exposure to infections, screening for STDs and using available diagnostic tests, treatments and vaccines.

The "Our Voices, Our Lives, Our Futures: Youth and STDs" project is funded by the William T. Grant Foundation. The purpose of the project is to provide clarity and consensus about the scope and impact of STDs in U.S. adolescents and young adults ages 15 to 24.

Further data on factors driving STDs among youth and innovative programs that are helping reduce the impact of STDs in young people will be presented at the 2004 National STD Prevention Conference March 8 through 11 in Philadelphia. For more information, click on www.stdconference.org.

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Notes: Contact Cates at (919) 843-5793 or joancates@unc.edu

To view a copy of the reports in Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, click on www.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/3600604.html  and www.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/3601104.html

To view a copy of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication report, click on www.jomc.unc.edu/youthandSTDs/ourvoicesreport.pdf

School of Journalism and Mass Communication contact: Zach Hoskins, (919) 966-3323 or zhoskins@email.unc.edu

News Services contact: Deb Saine, (919) 962-8415 or deborah_saine@unc.edu