The Northwest MHTTC is excited to collaborate with the Mountain West AIDS Education & Training Center Program (AETC) on this webinar series related to sexual health.
Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show a 74% increase in syphilis diagnoses from 2017-2021, including 2,800 congenital, or mother-to-child, syphilis cases in 2021 leading to 220 infant deaths. STIs overall have increased by 7% from 2020, with more than 2.5 million cases reported in the United States during 2021. Substance use, particularly methamphetamine use, appears to be highly correlated with rising rates of syphilis and other STIs. Among pregnant women with syphilis, substance use is nearly twice as high among those with a congenital syphilis outcome than those without transmission. Disparities also exist in syphilis rates across racial and ethnic groups. For example, among American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) persons, the rate of new syphilis cases of nearly four times the rate of white persons in 2020. Syphilis is also increasing among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men.
Actions can be taken to reverse these trends and prevent transmission of syphilis and other STIs in these and other populations. Addressing the syphilis syndemic requires collaboration between mental health and substance use disorder treatment providers, sexual health service providers, and supportive services providers (e.g., housing). Our final session will provide an update on syndemic conditions that disproportionately impact people living with serious mental illnesses and/ or substance use disorders and discuss the important role of behavioral health providers in screening and linkage to treatment.
Part 4 of the Sexual Health Series (click to view all sessions in this series).
Tim Menza, MD, PhD (he/they), is an infectious disease specialist with advanced training and expertise in HIV, STI, and viral hepatitis prevention and care. Tim has extensive experience in creating, implementing, and evaluating public health policy and advocating for communities through system-level change. As medical director of Oregon’s HIV/STD/TB program over the past 5 and a half years, Tim facilitated the implementation of a free statewide home HIV/STI testing program, public health accountability metrics for the prevention of congenital syphilis, partnerships with correctional facilities to increase HIV/STI/HCV testing and led Oregon’s response to mpox. Tim is currently an associate professor in the department of medicine at the University of Washington and a medical director of the Sexual Health Clinic with Public Health-Seattle & King County.
Lydia Chwastiak, MD, MPHDr. Chwastiak is a psychiatrist, internist and health services researcher who is a Professor in the UW Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. Over the past 22 years, her research has focused on improving care and outcomes for people with complex needs in low resource settings, such as low-barrier primary care clinics and community mental health centers in the US, and primary and secondary medical settings in India and Nepal. Dr. Chwastiak is co-directs the UW Behavioral Research in HIV (BIRCH) Center, an NIMH-funded AIDS Research Center, and is the PI and co-director of the Northwest Mental Health Technology Transfer Center (NW MHTTC).
