STD Rates Increasing Among Black Women

This isn’t good news. From Sex and Politics:

U.S. syphilis rates rose for a seventh year in 2007, driven by gay and bisexual men, while chlamydia reached record numbers and gonorrhea remained at alarming levels — especially among blacks, health officials said on Tuesday.

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Blacks make up 12 percent of the U.S. population, but account for about 70 percent of gonorrhea cases and almost half of chlamydia and syphilis cases, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

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Black women ages 15 to 19 have the highest rates of chlamydia and gonorrhea, and gonorrhea rates for blacks overall were 19 times higher than for whites, the CDC said

I wonder what messages aren’t teens getting about STD’s and the use of condoms? Is it a financial issue? Condoms are very expensive and black youth live in poverty at a much higher rate than their white counterparts. Also, the free condoms available at clinics and other places are rarely any good….Don’t Stop Now

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