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L.A. County Board of Supervisors, in 2018, allocated $5 million to the expansion of STD treatment & services & directed the Dept of Public Health to provide quarterly updates on the STD crisis.
The County Dept of Public Health is not providing public visibility of quarterly updates on the STD crisis as directed in August 2022:
Extracted from an Aug. 2022 "Motion by Supervisors Mitchell & Solis - Responding to L.A. County's Sexually Transmitted Disease Crisis"
L.A. County - within the last 10 years
- Congenital syphilis rates increased by 1300%
- Syphilis rates increased by 450% amongst women
- 250% amongst men within the last 10 years.
L.A. County Board of Supervisors in 2018
- Allocated $5 million to the expansion of STD treatment and services
- Directed the Department of Public Health (DPH) to provide quarterly updates on the County’s STD crisis.
COVID-19 Pandemic Affects STD Services
- 2020, the National Coalition of STD Directors reported that 78% of the STD/HIV health department workforce had redirected their priorities towards the pandemic.
- September 28, 2021, the Board directed DPH to provide an updated plan of action to address the STD crisis.
- DPH’s report back, submitted to the Board on April 1, 2022, recognizes that the decade-long increase in STD rates stems from systemic funding inequities predating the pandemic.
- Local public health departments and family planning clinics, which spearhead STD control efforts, are supported through a fragmented network of local, state, and federal funds.
- Federal funding sources for sexual health services have been cut or remained stagnant over the last decade.
- President Joseph Biden’s budget proposal for Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 allocates a flat amount towards STD control, despite STDs like congenital syphilis increasing by 279% within 4 years nationally.
- The Title X Family Planning Program, a federal fund for clinics providing reproductive health services such as Planned Parenthood, has also received stagnant funding.
One study, provided by the California Health Benefits Review Program (CHBRP), reports that each case of congenital syphilis costs an estimated $8,743 in direct costs and $78,396 in indirect costs for a total of $28.7 million for 329 cases in California (adjusted to 2021 dollars).
The CDC National statistics are only as recent as 2021. Syphilis Statistics - STD information from CDC
The California State statistics are only as recent as 2020 (!) . Sexually Transmitted Diseases Data (ca.gov)
L.A. County statistics are LA County Department of Public Health
L.A. County Health Dept "Congenital Syphilis FAQ" sheet is dated 9/10/15. CongenitalSyphilisFAQ 9-10-15.pdf (lacounty.gov)
California Incidence Rates, 1940–2017 Congenital Syphilis: STD-Data-Syphilis-Congenital-Slides (lacounty.gov)
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