STI Prevention

Local health departments (LHDs) are on the frontlines of sexually transmitted infection (STI) prevention, testing, and treatment. LHDs offer a multitude of services, including free or low-cost STI/HIV testing and treatment, partner services, and access to condoms, among other things. Additionally, sexual health education, community outreach, and STI/HIV screening events are often organized through LHDs. Health departments also serve as an important resource for healthcare providers by providing education and technical assistance on testing and treatment recommendations. Through the below projects, NACCHO continues to support LHDs in building capacity to address STI rates in their communities.

EXPRESS STI VISITS INITIATIVE

With funding from the CDC’s Division of STD Prevention (DSTDP), NACCHO leads the Express STI Visits Initiative, which is designed to increase the evidence base for express STI clinical visits and support clinics in quality improvement efforts to strengthen, scale-up, and evaluate express STI visits. We define express STI visits as triage-based STI testing without a full clinical examination. Express visits, also known as “fast-tracking,” are often associated with technology and automation with the goal of reducing visit time, reducing time to treatment, and freeing up provider time.

The Express STI Visits Initiative has a number of components, including a Community of Practice with clinics that currently implement or are interested in implementing express STI visits, in-depth projects with three sites to strengthen operational plans for express STI visits, and a forthcoming report to support express STI visit implementation. Stay tuned for more project updates in early 2019.

To learn more, check out our recent presentation from the 2018 STD Engage Conference. For questions or support, please contact Samantha Ritter, Senior Program Analyst for HIV, STI, & Viral Hepatitis, at sritter@naccho.org or 202-756-0162.