HIV Prevention Through Early Detection and Treatment of Other Sexually Transmitted Diseases -- United States

The Advisory Committee for HIV and STD Prevention (ACHSP) provides oversight and guidance to CDC in the prevention of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) -- the virus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) -- and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). On May 2, 1997, ACHSP reviewed data on the role of STD detection and treatment in the prevention of HIV infection. Based on this review, ACHSP concluded that early detection and treatment of curable STDs should be implemented more widely as an HIV prevention strategy in the United States. CDC is disseminating these ACHSP recommendations to HIV prevention community planning groups, prevention specialists, and policymakers who address HIV and STD prevention.

ACHSP also notes that early detection and treatment of STDs should be only one component of a comprehensive HIV prevention program, which also must include a range of social, behavioral, and biomedical interventions. Furthermore, a comprehensive national program for STD prevention must address other health concerns (e.g., STD-related infertility or adverse outcomes of pregnancy), and it requires diverse activities that go beyond early STD detection and treatment. Also, these recommendations focus on the major treatable STDs -- genital chlamydial infections, gonorrhea, syphilis, and chancroid -- because of the strong evidence of their cofactor role in HIV transmission. Also, prevention programs and routine public health surveillance for these conditions already exist in the United States. However, several studies indicate that treating other STDs (e.g., genital herpes infections and trichomoniasis) and genital tract syndromes related to sex (e.g., bacterial vaginosis) also can help prevent HIV transmission.