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The New Public Health and STD/HIV Prevention pp 361–382Cite as

Reducing Disparities in Sexual Health: Lessons Learned from the Campaign to Eliminate Infectious Syphilis from the United States

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Abstract

All Americans should have equal opportunities to live healthy lives regardless of their income, education, or racial/ethnic background. However, difficult living conditions have made health and wellness elusive for many Americans, creating circumstances that increase poor health outcomes, including disparate rates of sexually transmitted diseases. In particular the persistent high rate of primary and secondary (P&S) syphilis in some of American’s most vulnerable populations has been characterized as a sentinel event, signaling a failure in public health capacity to ensure the health of American communities [1, 2]. The National Campaign to Eliminate Syphilis (SEP), launched in October 1999, was designed to improve public health capacity, and thereby improve infant health, reduce HIV transmission, reduce health care costs, and eliminate a long-standing glaring health disparity.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of STD Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Rd., NE, MS E-02, Atlanta, GA, 30333, USA

    Jo A. Valentine

  2. Health Consultant, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Susan J. DeLisle

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  1. Jo A. Valentine
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  2. Susan J. DeLisle
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Correspondence to Jo A. Valentine .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Division of STD Prevention, NCHHSTP, Ctrs for Disease Control and Prevention, Clifton Road, NE 1600, Atlanta, 30333, Georgia, USA

    Sevgi O. Aral

  2. , Division of STD Prevention, NCHHSTP, Ctrs for Disease Control and Prevention, Clifton Rd., NE 1600, Atlanta, 30333, Georgia, USA

    Kevin A. Fenton

  3. Ctrs for Disease Control and Prevention, Buford Hwy 4770, Atlanta, 30341, Georgia, USA

    Judith A. Lipshutz

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Valentine, J.A., DeLisle, S.J. (2013). Reducing Disparities in Sexual Health: Lessons Learned from the Campaign to Eliminate Infectious Syphilis from the United States. In: Aral, S., Fenton, K., Lipshutz, J. (eds) The New Public Health and STD/HIV Prevention. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4526-5_18

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