STI Rates Increase Among Mississippi Teens

Main Category: Sexual Health / STDs
Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health
Article Date: 18 Nov 2009 - 4:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   opinions  

Teenagers ages 15 through 19 now comprise nearly 40% of Mississippi's sexually transmitted infection cases, the Jackson Clarion-Ledger reports. The number of chlamydia cases among teens increased 25% over the last five years, and numbers of cases in 2008 were close to the 2007 total. From 2007 to 2008, the number of HIV/AIDS cases among 15- to 24-year-olds increased from 131 to 160, while the number of syphilis cases rose from 52 to 63. Teens ages 15 through 19 make up 7.6% of the state's population and account for 40.1% of reported chlamydia cases, 32.3% of reported gonorrhea cases, 10.5% of reported early syphilis cases and 7.8% of newly reported HIV/AIDS cases (Brown [1], Jackson Clarion-Ledger, 11/15).

The figures have prompted health experts to question Mississippi's abstinence-only approach to sex education, arguing that it hurts their ability to combat a growing public health problem, the Clarion-Ledger reports. Birth control cannot be prescribed at school clinics, and the state's Department of Education receives money for abstinence-only education. Abstinence education is the state standard and to teach something different would require a majority vote from a school district's board. Abstinence education is "literally based around telling teens not to have sex," Felicia Brown-Williams, a spokesperson for Planned Parenthood in Mississippi, said, adding, "It doesn't fully inform them of what they need to do when they become sexually active" (Brown [2], Jackson Clarion-Ledger, 11/15).

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spokesperson Nikki Kay said Mississippi's numbers are reflective of a national trend. Kay attributed the increase in STIs to lack of condom use, lack of awareness of STIs, multiple partners, stigma about STIs and socioeconomic factors (Brown [1], Jackson Clarion-Ledger, 11/15).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You can view the entire Daily Women's Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women's Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.

© 2009 The Advisory Board Company. All rights reserved.

• Additional
• References
• Citations