Group calls for STD policy reform in state

The cases of sexually transmitted diseases are on the rise in Minnesota, and Planned Parenthood is calling on the state government to ramp up efforts to fight it.

Planned Parenthood of Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota released a report recently examining statistics from the Minnesota Department of Health.

The numbers show STD infections are on the rise throughout the state. For example, the department’s STD report in April showed 17,000 infections in 2008, the highest ever reported.

Koochiching County cases of chlamydia have risen steadily over the past 10 years. In 1999, four cases were reported; in 2008, there were 27 cases reported. During that 10-year period, 2007 saw the highest number of cases, 36.

Susan Congrave, Director of the Koochiching County Health Department, said that she is tracking cases of chlamydia and gonorrhea. Six cases of gonorrhea were reported between 2003 and 2005, which Congrave called a “blip.”

Among Planned Parenthood suggestions are more funding for STD testing and treatment; having the Health Department write a comprehensive plan to significantly reduce STD infections in five years and for the department to calculate the annual cost of untreated STDs to the health care system.

Congrave said, “Our local family planning office has a grant that will test and treat for both. They need to be residents of Minnesota.”