"Show me the Money: FY 2009 State STD prevention funding, spending, and policy"

Nov. 19, 2010 - PRLog -- States spend nearly 15 billion dollars each year to treat new cases of sexually transmitted diseases (STD), and a new study by the American Social Health Association (ASHA) finds much more can be done to stem the epidemic.

An estimated 19 million new STD infections occur each year in the U.S. – about half of which are in youth under age 25 – yet states have slashed spending on STD prevention programs. While the average per capita spending for all public health was $40.25 across the U.S., in FY 2009, states reported only spending an average of $0.16 per capita of that on STD prevention, a reduction from $0.23 in FY 2007.

With STDs continuing to be a major public health challenge (rates of chlamydia and syphilis are climbing), states are increasingly looking to Washington for help. In FY 2009, states reported funding about one tenth of their total STD prevention effort. Since ASHA’s last report (FY 2007), the federal government is funding an increasing share of STD prevention budgets, from 75% of the total in FY 2007, to 90% of the total in FY 2009.

Budgets are under pressure everywhere, but principal investigator of the study and ASHA Vice President of Research and Health Communications, Lisa K. Gilbert, PhD, says diverting funds from prevention programs may be short-sighted: “STD prevention is much less expensive than treatment, especially when you count the health consequences that often result. Fully funding prevention efforts is an effective means of avoiding more costly interventions and serious health outcomes. These programs remain a cornerstone of good public health policy.”

Thirty states reported funding decreases leading to reductions in staff, training, capacity building, and services (both clinic and laboratory) as well as increases in furloughs. The range for state’s public health funding in general, and STD prevention funding specifically, was enormous. For example, per capita public health funding in Nevada compared with Hawaii was $3.55 and $169.92, respectively. STD prevention funding also ranged wildly from $0 per capita in three states (Colorado, Indiana, and South Carolina) to $1.57 in Louisiana. ASHA President and CEO Lynn Barclay says “Literally, your health could depend on where you live. Such discrepancies are heart-breaking and unfair. Robust prevention programs save dollars and protect our health. It only makes sense to fund them at adequate levels.”  

Visit http://www.ashastd.org/stdprevention10/ for the full report and an interactive, searchable website that details state-by-state investment in STD prevention. This study was funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

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The American Social Health Association is a trusted, non-profit organization that has advocated on behalf of patients to help improve public health outcomes since 1914. We are America's authority for sexually transmitted disease information