The American Social Health Association is a trusted, non-profit organization that has advocated on behalf of patients to help improve public health outcomes since 1914. We are America's authority for sexually transmitted infection information.

ASHA is recognized by the public, patients, providers, and policy makers for developing and delivering accurate, medically reliable information about STIs. Public and college health clinics across the United States order ASHA's educational pamphlets and books to give to clients and students. Community-based organizations depend on ASHA, too, to help communicate about risk, transmission, prevention, testing, and treatment.

This is where you will find the facts, the support, and the resources to answer your questions, find referrals, join support groups, and get access to in-depth information about sexually transmitted infections.

You can be assured that the information you find on this Web site is based upon well-researched and documented medical facts and follows approved treatment guidelines as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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STD versus STI: Diseases that are spread through sexual contact are usually referred to as “sexually transmitted diseases” - STDs for short. In recent years, however, many experts in this area of public health have suggested replacing STD with a new term - sexually transmitted infection, or STI.

WHY? The concept of “disease,” as in STD, implies a clear medical problem, usually some obvious signs or symptoms. But in truth several of the most common STIs have no signs or symptoms in the majority of persons infected. Or they have mild signs and symptoms that can be easily overlooked. So the sexually transmitted virus or bacteria can be described as creating “infection,” which may or may not result in “disease.” This is true of chlamydia, gonorrhea, herpes, and human papillomavirus (HPV), to name a few.