STD at 50: Introduction to the Anniversary Issue

 Last February, Bill Miller, Abby Norris Turner and I realized that the September 2024 issue of our journal would mark its 50^th anniversary. We conceived the idea of celebrating this milestone with a special issue. We envisioned inviting a select but diverse group of colleagues in our field to submit free-style essays that would reflect on the authors’ passion(s), their careers and the role the journal played in this narrative. All this in 800-1200 words and a limited number of references. And, oh yes, a tight deadline. As the only one “retired”, I offered to volunteer as the person on-point for the endeavor. “It’s your baby, Kees”, Bill Miller said. Well, as babies go, the gestation was short but sweet. The reaction to our initial invitation was overwhelmingly positive and the follow-through was almost complete. Thanks so much to all who contributed so timely and enthusiastically and with such great insights. In my role, I had the pleasure and privilege seeing drafts of a variety of papers.  Together, in my mind’s eye, an image emerged of our field as a large colorful mosaic.

 At this point, after expressing my deep gratitude to the authorship, I also need to offer an apology. The mosaic, as beautiful as it is, is missing pieces. We were limited in the number of essays that we would ultimately be able to publish in the anniversary issue and the selection of authors was subjective. I am grateful to those contributors who suggested authors or topics that they felt needed to be included, and despite the looming deadline, many could be.  However, to remedy the remaining deficit and to solicit more pieces to enhance the mosaic, the journal is open to receiving and publishing additional opinion pieces in forthcoming issues. We hope that many readers will feel inspired and submit their own contribution. 

 We also hope to attract more commentary from our sister organizations, partners
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Almost 2 years ago, I was asked to participate in a committee of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) to assess STI control and prevention in the United States.  To avoid conflicts of interest, committee members were instructed to abstain from publicly stating opinions that might interfere with the committee’s deliberations – including writing of op-eds, editorials, blogs, etc. The report, entitled Sexually Transmitted Infections – Adopting a Sexual Health Paradigm was publicly released today (free download available at this link) and with that, I once again feel free to opine!

 Working with the NASEM committee, comprised of a 17-member interdisciplinary group of researchers, was a unique and rewarding experience and I trust that the report will bear that out. As the NASEM report comes on the heels of a number of other STI reports, including the STI National Strategic Plan released by the Department of Health and Human Services just a few months ago, I think it would be useful to point how our committee feels it builds on and expands beyond these other reports.

 The committee envisions a new paradigm that puts STI prevention into the much larger context of sexual health and sexual wellbeing. It considers STIs not just as isolated problems affecting distinct high-risk individuals or communities, but rather as an issue that involves all levels of society and requires societal solutions. It also recognizes the importance of engaging actors beyond traditional public health programs and STI clinics in the prevention and control of STIs. For example, the fact that a disproportionate number of STIs affect youth and young adults, leads the Committee to conclude that sexual health promotion and STI prevention should involve youth, their parents and educators in program development and implementation. Likewise, especially in areas with high STI morbidity, it is imperative to listen to advocates, faith leaders, and other stakeholders and involve them in a meaningful community engagement
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In a sexual health discourse that has started to shift the focus from disease prevention to health promotion, to embrace sexual and ethnic diversity, to support sexual rights and to reduce stigma, there are two topics that are often avoided: prostitution and pornography. Both the provision and consumption of each continue to be shrouded in prudishness, prejudice, and punition.  Trafficking, coercion, and the potential for exploitation of women, adolescents and other vulnerable populations complicate the formulation of a place for these activities, if any, in the spectrum of sexual health. However conflicted we may be though, most would agree that professional engagement as a sex worker or adult entertainer should not deprive one of ways to prevent the untoward consequences of one’s work, specifically the risk for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STI).

In this context, policies and laws to regulate the adult entertainment industry that stipulate regular testing for entertainers and mandatory condom use during professional sexual activities appear to be justified,
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From the ASTDA President

20 August, 2016

Dear Colleagues

As the days are getting longer and the time to the 2016 STD Prevention Conference shorter, here’s your late summer ASTDA update.

First, elections for the ASTDA Executive Committee (EC) were held last month and the 2016/2018 EC will be composed of the following members:

President: J. Dennis Fortenberry, MD, MS

President-Elect: Barbara van der Pol, PhD, MPH

Past-President: Kees Rietmeijer, MD, PhD

Secretary Treasurer (3^rd term): Edward W. Hook III, MD

On behalf
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Thirteen years ago we initiated a mandatory co-pay for patients visiting our STD clinic in Denver. The results were dramatic: a precipitous decline in patient visits and an almost 40% reduction in diagnosed gonorrhea cases. Alarmed, we introduced an “express visit”, a no-cost alternative to a full-exam visit for asymptomatic patients, offering basic STI and HIV testing without a clinical examination. Currently, many STD clinics in the U.S. and abroad offer some type of express visit or fast-track option to reduce costs and enhance efficiencies in their clinics. However, with advancing computer and diagnostic technologies, the express visit model is evolving rapidly.

Just how far the express visit envelope can be pushed is shown at the Dean Street Express clinic in London’s SoHo district. I recently had a chance to visit Dean Street Express on a tour organized by the National Coalition of STD Directors.

This store-front clinic was conceived when a large HIV clinic down
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May 9, 2016

Dear Colleagues,

With spring slowly changing to summer, I wanted to give you an update on what’s happening in the Association.

First, it gives me great pleasure to announce and congratulate the richly deserving recipients of the 2016 ASTDA Recognition Awards: Dr. Anne Rompalo (Distinguished Career Award), Dr. Joan Chow (Achievement Award), and Dr. Lindley Barbee (Young Investigator Award).  Thanks very much to the members of this year’s awards committee that yielded such excellent results: Dennis Fortenberry, Anna Wald,  Marc Steben, Ina Park, Bobbie van der Pol, and Kim Workowski. The awards will be presented at the Annual ASTDA Awards Luncheon during the National STD Prevention Conference on Thursday September 22. All attendees to the conference are invited to the event.  

Preparations for the STD Prevention Conference are in full swing. 
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Syphilis Summit

On behalf of the American Sexually Transmitted Disease Association, I attended the CDC “Syphilis Summit” conference last week in Atlanta. It was a very intensive meeting attended by over 100 scientists, clinicians and program staff. Trying to summarize this meeting in a short blog and not omit important detail is a hazardous task, but I will try anyway.

Syphilis has been on the rise in the U.S. since the late 1990s, when the availability of highly active anti-retroviral treatment profoundly changed the perception of HIV/AIDS as an invariably fatal disease and risk behaviors increased, particularly among MSM. Some may find this reasoning somewhat simplistic, however, the fact is that the current syphilis epidemic was initially largely confined to men and disproportionally affecting MSM. Recently, though, there has also been an increase among heterosexual men and women and, as a result, an increase in congenital syphilis cases. In 2014, the CDC reported 458 cases of congenital syphilis, compared 359
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Dear Colleagues,

Last week, the National Network of STD Prevention Training Centers (NNPTC) and the National Coalition of STD Directors held their annual meetings back-to-back in Savannah, GA. Obviously, this was no coincidence.  Since the NNPTC started their new funding cycle last fall, there has been a clear expectation from CDC that the prevention training centers work closely together with the state and local STD AAPPS (Assessment, Assurance, Policy Development and Prevention Strategies) grantees and indentify areas where the NNPTC can provide targeted training and technical assistance. For many in the NNPTC this is a departure from clinical training business as usual and requires a new approach. While challenging, especially for those centers that are working with new states in their jurisdiction, this is also a great opportunity to expand the reach of NNPTC expertise. This new direction is accompanied by a shift in the focus of clinical training. Where in the past, there was little
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The below letter went out to the ASTDA membership. However, if this email peaks your interest in ASTDA, please visit www.astda.org and find out more about our organziation. We would love to have you join as a member!

October 12, 2015

To: Membership of the American Sexually Transmitted Diseases Association

Dear Colleagues,

Our Association is a very dynamic organization and periodically we need to ensure that our activities are in line with the Association’s bylaws. There have been a number of developments this last year that in the opinion of the ASTDA Executive Committee requires changes to the bylaws. I am writing you to inform you about these changes and to request your input and vote. 

Formalizing the relationship between ASTDA and the International Union Against Sexually Transmitted Infections (IUSTI)

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In a recent article in the journal Sexually Transmitted Diseases co-published as a blog on STDPO, Dr. Hunter Handsfield rekindled a long-standing debate: what, if any, is the difference between STI (sexually transmitted infection) and STD (sexually transmitted disease)?¹ While there may be more critical issues in our field to lose sleep over, the STI/STD debate is not quite trivial. The question comes up often enough in our trainings and most of our students think that there is indeed a difference, even though they may not know what it is. Thus, arguments from an undisputed leader in the field like Dr. Handsfield, suggesting that we should not fret too much about the difference between “infection” and “disease” and that STI and STD may and probably will be used interchangeably for times to come, appear to put this issue to rest.

However, before
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