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Next Up on Economic Stimulus Package: Another Investment in Healtcare May Be Axed

While RCRC remains deeply disappointed that expanded family planning services for poor and low-income women was cut from the economic stimulus package, we have another battle ahead.

Senate Republicans are taking aim at $400 million for preventing sexually transmitted diseases, which they see as inappropriate for inclusion in the bill. We disagree - health services and economic growth go hand-in-hand. Investing in prevention of HIV, viral hepatitis, STDs, and TB will strengthen health infrastructure, save money, create skilled jobs, and address an urgent health threat.

Addressing an urgent health threat
Funding can help prevent some of the most common, costly, and controllable infectious diseases - HIV, viral hepatitis, STDs, and tuberculosis.

According to the CDC, every year, 19 million Americans become infected with STDs including HIV:

• 21% of HIV-infected persons are unaware of their infection.
• One in four adolescent girls has at least one STD. These infections increase the risk of infertility, ectopic pregnancy and poor pregnancy outcomes, cancer, and HIV infection.
• The rate of new HIV infections among African American women is 15 times higher than that of white women.

Undiagnosed HIV and STD infections drive up medical care costs due to disease complications and ongoing transmission.

• The cost of HIV treatment is largely borne by the public sector, and costs due to lost productivity and early death can reach $1,000,000 per infection.
• Screening for STDs such as Chlamydia is cost effective and can prevent more serious complications.
• An estimated 11 million Americans have latent tuberculosis infection.
• At least 3 million Americans are chronically infected with hepatitis C virus. Most do not know they are infected, and many will develop liver cancer as a result.

Why funding now?

• HIV, viral hepatitis, STD, and TB are the most common reportable infectious diseases in the U.S., and each year millions of Americans are affected by or infected with these diseases.
• Chronic underinvestment in prevention has resulted in sustained transmission, severe health disparities, spiraling healthcare costs, and public health worker burnout and attrition.
• One time investments into these services are an effective way to create thousands of jobs, modernize and strengthen the public health infrastructure, accelerate prevention efforts, and hasten the elimination of these infections.

January 30, 2009