989: HIV and STI Efforts in States

JANSON SILVERS: 

This is the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition for Friday, September 12, 2025. I'm Janson Silvers. Now, today's news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

SAMEER VOHRA: 

What we wanted to put forward in this op-ed is that the end of the HIV epidemic in Illinois is in sight because we've seen and the data shows that there are declining HIV infections in Illinois.

SILVERS: 

ASTHO member Dr. Sameer Vohra is the director of the Illinois Department of Public Health. He recently joined public health colleagues from the City of Chicago and the Cook County Department of Health to author an op-ed in the Chicago Tribune about where his state stands in regard to HIV. Vohra says he and his colleagues have lofty goals for many reasons, but one of the largest is the advancement of treatment.

VOHRA: 

We have tools, you know, a medicine like PrEP, one pill a day, that can sort of make it nearly impossible to have that transmission of HIV, really powerful stuff. But we need more people to have access, knowledge, the ability to afford and take those kinds of medicines.

SILVERS: 

While treatments have come a long way, some of the age old issues still exist.

VOHRA: 

We do know that there is still disproportionate impact; that we have reached certain communities better than others. And how do we highlight the types of things that allow people to gain access, because we know that stigma around HIV still exists.

SILVERS: 

Vohra knows that these goals won't be met without collaboration.

VOHRA: 

That's why this was very important to have state, county, and local spreading this message, a message of partnership, a message of our big goals and ambition, but really how we need to get the message out that this is possible and it's going to take all of us to get there.

SILVERS: 

You can read Vohra's op-ed now. The link is in the show notes.

Continuing with the topic of STIs, in Wisconsin, overall, STI rates are decreasing, but syphilis rates have not. Since 2019, syphilis cases have risen by more than 1400%. Brandon Kufalk, the State of Wisconsin's STI unit supervisor, explains why this sharp increase is taking place and how COVID played a role.

BRANDON KUFALK: 

During the pandemic, basically, our entire disease intervention specialist workforce was completely moved towards helping control the COVID pandemic.

SILVERS: 

In the years since the pandemic, the number of syphilis cases in almost every stage has decreased, but congenital syphilis cases have been harder to reduce.

KUFALK: 

We were using traditional sequence testing for syphilis testing for prenatal care as opposed to reverse sequence testing, and because of that, there were some cases that we found that people actually probably had syphilis during their pregnancy. Unfortunately, the initial test didn't detect it.

SILVERS: 

Kufalk says the first step toward progress is overcoming stigma.

KUFALK: 

If we can start helping people realize that sexual health is public health, that sexual health is something that everyone has to be concerned with, then we can, sort of, not only overcome the stigmatization that we ourselves may feel, but we can inject that into our program and- and obviously our community in general.

SILVERS: 

If your department is looking for more guidance around STIs, ASTHO has a resource for you. The brief dives into key considerations for STI programs during emergency responses, and it highlights the importance of having a disease intervention specialist. Read those items plus policy recommendations by clicking the link in the show notes.

Also, the next session in ASTHO's Public Health Nursing Learning Lab Series is coming up soon, on September 24. You can learn more about public health nursing residency programs and leadership pathways. The series is designed for public health professionals, workforce directors, HR personnel, public health nurses, and others who are committed to finding innovative strategies for strengthening the public health nursing workforce. If that's you, sign up today using the link in the show notes.

Finally, September is also the time when we recognize Suicide Prevention Month. ASTHO has several resources focused on suicide prevention on its website, including the Suicide Prevention Legal Map. That link is ready for you in the show notes.

That'll do it for today. We're back on Monday morning with more ASTHO news and information. I'm Janson Silvers. You're listening to the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition. Have a great weekend.