STDs & HIV/AIDS Issues

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• More than 25 million people have died in the global HIV/AIDS pandemic, and today, more than 40 million women and men are living with the virus. In the United States, an estimated 40,000 people contract HIV every year.
• Some strains of another STI, the human papilloma virus (HPV), can cause cervical cancer, which strikes 500,000 women around the world each year and claims 250,000 lives.
• Young people, women, and minorities are particularly vulnerable — a recent CDC study showed that at least one in four teenage girls has a sexually transmitted infection.

To address these national and global public health challenges, Planned Parenthood is promoting scientifically proven, commonsense solutions. Here are a few of the facts:

• Comprehensive sex education arms young people with the knowledge to act safely and responsibly. The federal government must stop funding dangerous abstinence-only education programs.
• The spread of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) can be reduced through comprehensive, medically accurate information and responsible public health policies for prevention, screening, and treatment.
• The best way to prevent cervical cancer is to ensure that young women get vaccinated with the HPV vaccine and that all women get regular Pap tests.
• Among sexually active people, the risk of HIV/AIDS can be reduced by practicing safer sex and using condoms correctly every time.

Sadly, ultraconservative opponents of reproductive health care continue to put up roadblocks against sound public health policies — including access to the HPV vaccine, use of condoms, and ensuring access to comprehensive sex education for all young people — even though more than half of Americans will have an STI at some point in their lives.

Join the Planned Parenthood Action Network and learn what you can do to protect yourself and others now!