April is Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) Awareness Month, and this year, there are many reasons for the Department of Public Health STD Office to continue their hard work to call attention to the impact of STDs and to promote STD testing across the state.

Treating STDs like gonorrhea is becoming increasingly difficult. Traditionally, when someone contracts gonorrhea, he or she can go to a health care provider and get tested and treated with antibiotics.

Now, doctors are finding that gonorrhea no longer responds as well to available antibiotics. It is necessary for public health professionals to educate people to prevent STDs like gonorrhea from occurring in the first place, or treat them quickly so they are not spread through the population.

Every year STDs cost the U.S. healthcare system $17 billion-and cost individuals even more in immediate and long-term health consequences, including infertility.

Mounting evidence suggests a link between untreated gonorrhea and chlamydia and the likelihood that someone will contract HIV.  Having either gonorrhea or chlamydia can increase the chance that someone will either contract HIV or spread it to a sexual partner. Individuals who are infected with STDs may be two to five times more likely than uninfected individuals to acquire HIV infection.

STDs and HIV are not uniformly represented in the population. In Georgia, adolescents, women and men who have sex with men are at increased risk of contracting both STDs and HIV. An estimated one fifth of the HIV positive clients do not know they are infected and keep on spreading the infection.

During National STD Awareness Month, the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) encourages people to get tested for STDs and encourages healthcare providers to talk to their patients about STDs.

Local health departments play an important role in connecting people to testing and treatment, and often able to assist people financially for the cost of tests and treatments.

DPH also encourages people to talk to their friends, loved ones, partners and children about the importance of maintaining good sexual health. STD and HIV prevention is the responsibility of each person and the right information and resources help people stay healthy.

This can be an April in Georgia where we make strides toward being STD and HIV free.

-Story by LaKeisha Strong, State STD Office, DPH