U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

Sexually Transmitted Infections

Goal: Reduce sexually transmitted infections and their complications and improve access to quality STI care.

A woman standing next to a man puts her hands on his shoulder while they look at each other and smile.

Although many sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are preventable, there are more than 20 million estimated new cases in the United States each year — and rates are increasing.1 In addition, more than 1.2 million people in the United States are living with HIV (human immunodeficiency virus).2 Healthy People 2030 focuses on preventing and treating STIs, including HIV, and on improving the health and well-being of people who have them.

Adolescents, young adults, and men who have sex with men are at higher risk of getting STIs. And people who have an STI may be at higher risk of getting HIV. Promoting behaviors like condom use can help prevent STIs.

Strategies to increase screening and testing for STIs can assess people’s risk of getting an STI and help people with STIs get treatment, improving their health and making it less likely that STIs will spread to others. Getting treated for an STI other than HIV can help prevent complications from the STI but doesn’t prevent HIV from spreading.3

Objective Status

  • 0 Target met or exceeded
  • 8 Improving
  • 5 Little or no detectable change
  • 5 Getting worse
  • 4 Baseline only
  • 0 Developmental
  • 0 Research

Learn more about objective types

Related Objectives

The following is a sample of objectives related to this topic. Some objectives may include population data.

Sexually Transmitted Infections — General

Reduce the syphilis rate in females — STI‑03
Getting worse

Adolescents

Reduce pelvic inflammatory disease in female adolescents and young women — STI‑07
Improving
Reduce the number of new HIV infections — HIV‑01
Little or no detectable change
Reduce gonorrhea rates in male adolescents and young men — STI‑02
Getting worse
Reduce the proportion of adolescents and young adults with genital herpes — STI‑06
Baseline only

Infectious Disease

Reduce the rate of acute hepatitis B — IID‑11
Improving
Reduce the rate of deaths with hepatitis C as a cause — IID‑16
Improving
Reduce the rate of deaths with hepatitis B as a cause — IID‑15
Little or no detectable change
Reduce the rate of hepatitis A — IID‑10
Getting worse
Reduce the rate of acute hepatitis C — IID‑12
Getting worse
Reduce infections of HPV types prevented by the vaccine in young adults — IID‑07
Baseline only
Increase the proportion of people who know they have chronic hepatitis B — IID‑13
Baseline only
Increase the proportion of people who no longer have hepatitis C — IID‑14
Baseline only

LGBT

Reduce the number of new HIV diagnoses — HIV‑03
Improving
Increase linkage to HIV medical care — HIV‑04
Improving
Increase knowledge of HIV status — HIV‑02
LHI label
Little or no detectable change
Increase viral suppression — HIV‑05
Little or no detectable change

Pregnancy and Childbirth

Reduce the rate of mother-to-child HIV transmission — HIV‑06
Improving
Reduce congenital syphilis — STI‑04
Getting worse

Preventive Care

Reduce the syphilis rate in men who have sex with men — STI‑05
Improving
Increase the proportion of sexually active female adolescents and young women who get screened for chlamydia — STI‑01
Little or no detectable change

Vaccination

Increase the proportion of adolescents who get recommended doses of the HPV vaccine — IID‑08
Improving

References

1.

Satterwhite, C.L., et al. (2013). Sexually Transmitted Infection Among U.S. Women and Men: Prevalence and Incidence Estimates, 2008. Sexually Transmitted Diseases, 40(3), 187-193. DOI: 10.1097/OLQ.0b013e318286bb53

2.

Harris, N.S., et al. (2019). Vital Signs: Status of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Testing, Viral Suppression, and HIV Preexposure Prophylaxis — United States, 2013–2018. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 68(48), 1117-1123. DOI: 10.15585/mmwr.mm6848e1

3.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2019). STDs and HIV — CDC Fact Sheet. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/std/hiv/stdfact-std-hiv.htm