481: Syphilis Drug Shortage, Maternal and Child Health Priorities

ROBERT JOHNSON: 

This is the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition for Monday, August 14, 2023. I'm Robert Johnson. Now, today's news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

JEFFREY KLAUSNER: 

Well, the more difficult it is to treat syphilis because of stockouts because of penicillin shortages, it means it makes it harder to disrupt the ongoing spread of infection.

JOHNSON: 

Drug shortages across the country continue to worsen. Dr. Jeffery Klausner is a public health professor at USC. He says the primary recommended treatment for syphilis remains in short supply.

KLAUSNER: 

There's actually only one recommended treatment, benzathine penicillin, that's been recommended by CDC for decades. We do have some alternative treatments, but they're not as well-studied. And from the CDC perspective, they're not as reliable as benzathine penicillin.

JOHNSON: 

Klausner believes a lack of investment has made things worse, noting at least one type of syphilis has made a comeback after nearly been eliminated.

KLAUSNER: 

The United States was actually at the verge of eliminating congenital syphilis about 10 to 15 years ago. However, with the lack of investment in local public health control programs, we've seen a stunning reversal, such that we have you know, 1000s of cases of congenital syphilis right now in the United States.

JOHNSON: 

He's also not optimistic about drug supplies ramping up anytime soon.

KLAUSNER: 

No, I don't see an increase in production happening. What I see is that physicians will look for alternative treatments, that they may triage the availability of benzathine penicillin to reserve that for pregnant women.

JOHNSON: 

Klausner was recently quoted in a New York Times article. You can read the story using the link in the show notes.

August is National Breastfeeding Month. ASTHO's Jazmyn Covington says ASTHO members are making maternal and child health a priority.

JAZMYN COVINGTON: 

Maternal child and family health rose from being the fifth-ranked programmatic priority area to the number one ranked priority area for state health agencies between 2022 and 2023. And breastfeeding was identified as a key strategy, in that environmental scan for reducing maternal and infant mortality.

JOHNSON: 

Covington says ASTHO is working to support those efforts.

COVINGTON: 

This year, we facilitated different peer network sessions among state health agencies. We developed a virtual learning series that's titled 'Advancing Breastfeeding Equity Through Prevention,' which highlighted how communities and states can work together to advance breastfeeding in different areas like home visiting, while supporting lactating parents who are incarcerated, partner engagement, and mental health.

JOHNSON: 

ASTHO also has provided grants to help states do this work in their communities.

COVINGTON: 

For example, in Colorado, Mama Bird Doula Services developed a fact sheet to increase awareness of lactation resources in the state, particularly among black Coloradans, who are nearly half as likely to be aware of lactation resources as their white counterparts and are seven times as likely to experience an infant death. In New York, they were able to hire a project manager to expand their fourth trimester project and increase education and access to lactation support for black and low-income lactating people and their families.

JOHNSON: 

There are several resources available on this topic. There's a link that will take you to all of them in the show notes.

Also today, you still have time to sign up for ASTHO's webinar about ways to improve access to emergency contraception. O'Keyla Cooper has more.

O'KEYLA COOPER: 

Don't miss out on the Contraception Access Learning Community webinar taking place tomorrow, August 15 from 2 to 3 p.m. Eastern time. State and territorial public health staff and their partners still have time to register for this free event to learn key strategies to integrate emergency contraception into their practice and increase access to it. Register now; the link is in the show notes.

JOHNSON: 

Finally this morning, stay in the loop about all things happening in public health when you sign up for ASTHO's Public Health Weekly email newsletter. You can join the list using the link in the show notes.

And if you have a minute, please take the time to give us a review. We'd like to know what you think.

That'll do it for today's newscast. We're back tomorrow morning with more ASTHO news and information. I'm Robert Johnson. You're listening to the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition. Have a great day.