Mobile Version - November - December 2016
From the Director Dr. Jonathan Mermin
CDC's recently released STD Surveillance Report shows reported cases of STDs are at an unprecedented high in the U.S. In 2015, more cases of chlamydia and gonorrhea were reported than ever before, and cases of syphilis continue to rise. Young people aged 15 to 24 accounted for nearly two-thirds of chlamydia diagnoses and half of gonorrhea diagnoses. Ninety percent of reported syphilis cases were in men; and gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men accounted for a majority of these cases. There was an increase in congenital syphilis. The numbers in this report represent real people and real irreversible health problems. CDC is currently supporting state and local health departments for fundamental STD prevention, including disease surveillance, contact tracing, testing and other STD services, and health promotion, but we need an improved response. Part of that will be addressing the stretched STD public infrastructure and having health care providers make STD prevention, screening, and treatment a routine part of medical care, including at prenatal visits.
NCHHSTP Annual Report
The recently published 2015 NCHHSTP Annual Report is a record of the work accomplished during Fiscal Year 2015. Highlights include data indicating a 19% decrease in annual HIV diagnoses in the U.S. since 2005; successful assistance to Indiana to control the HIV and hepatitis C outbreak among people who were injecting the prescription opioid oxymorphone; a clinical advisory issued to physicians and health-care providers regarding an increase in cases of ocular syphilis especially among HIV-infected MSM; establishment of a Drug Susceptibility Testing Reference Center for TB in partnership with the Association of Public Health Laboratories; launch of a successful CDC Grands Rounds session on adolescent health via webcast; and adoption of a new NCHHSTP Strategic Plan Through 2020 that sets key goals for the future of public health. These accomplishments are the result of CDC and our partner's efforts and a foundation for our future work together.
National Epidemiologic and Economic Modeling Agreement
CDC's National Epidemiologic and Economic Modeling Agreement (NEEMA) is a 5-year cooperative agreement to support modeling activities to inform and improve the effectiveness of CDC-supported public health programs and activities. Modeling epidemics and economics of disease provides information on how best to use resources to prevent the most disease. NEEMA funds Emory University Coalition for Applied Modeling for Prevention, Harvard University Prevention Policy Modeling Lab, and the University of California at San Francisco Consortium to Assess Prevention Economics to support the assessment of projected morbidity and mortality, burden and costs of diseases, costs and cost-effectiveness of interventions, population-level program impact, and optimized resource allocation.