But we can do something about STDs. Schacker was one of several experts who spoke Thursday night at a Willmar forum on HIV and STDs. The meeting was one of 40 being held around the state by the Minnesota AIDS Project as it prepares its legislative agenda for the 1999 session. The organization hopes to draw attention to the rising tide of STDs, the link between STDs and HIV, and the need for funding to gather reliable data that will help target prevention efforts, said Bob Tracy, public policy director for the Minnesota AIDS Project. My sense is we should be investing at least as much in STD prevention as we do in HIV prevention.
Numbers are hard to come by because there's no statewide tracking system for many STDs.
But the evidence suggests that one in five teens in Minnesota has reported having a sexually-transmitted disease. The highest occurrence of STDs appears to be among young adults just out of high school. Existing numbers may be the tip of the iceberg, Schacker said. There's a large population of people who are sexually active and who you know have STIs and who aren't coming in to get tested. The trend locally is the same as the rest of the state and nation, according to Jan Dahl, assistant regional manager for Planned Parenthood.