Many people still associate STD with specific group of people. In today's society STD can affect anyone and that is what most people fail to realize. "It will never happen to me", "I trust my partner" is what most people think in their mind. It is important that we value our health and get tested. People believe that STD affects only prostitutes, gays, Drug users and etc but now STD can affect anyone including people in relationships. No matter what our status is everyone should get tested because prevention is better than cure."The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) released results of a study that show startling statistics for female teens: One of every four teenage girls has at least one sexually transmitted disease (STD). That translates to about 3 million teenage girls in the United States "(Dyess, 2008 ).
"Health officials recommend annual screening tests to detect Chlamydia for sexually active women younger than 25 and also recommend that women between the ages of 11 to 26 be vaccinated against HPV" (Dyess, 2008) .
"There are 19 million sexually transmitted diseases in the United States – that cost the health care system $15 billion a year - with almost half occurring among the 14-to-25 age group according to Dr. Kevin Fenton of the CDC. Officials described STD as a public health epidemic and stated that efforts must be made to improve screening, education, and other prevention strategies for sexually active teens"(Dyess, 2008).
After reviewing this information i concluded that it is really important we educate ourselves and talk to our children.
Dyess, D. (2008). Women's health:STD's Affect 26 Percent of Female Teens. Retrieved on March 14, 2009 from http://www.healthnews.com/family-health/womens-health/stds-affect-26-percent-female-teens-671.html
Your conclusion to educate ourselves and talk to children is right on the money! The statistics you included are great and right to the point. The "I trust my partner" is definitely an issue with transmission because they think they are safe yet are being deceived by someone they love. Also, putting the disease in a specific socieoeconomic class is down right absurd and ignorant to the fact that so many people who have sex are suceptible to STDs.
ReplyDeleteGreat point and great statistics!