COVID-19 Isn’t the Only Epidemic Facing Florida

COVID-19 Isn’t the Only Epidemic Facing Florida. Sexually Transmitted Infections are at a Record High. But there’s a Solution.

Orlando has the 3rd highest HIV transmission rate in the entire country and a CDC study, just last month, showed 2.4 million sexually transmitted infections (STI’s) across the US, with some STI’s like syphilis increasing by 254%. Although COVID-19 has garnered the lion’s share of media attention, it is just one of many public health crises facing Orlando.

 

Access to Testing

Over the course of the pandemic, we’ve learned that COVID-19 and STI transmission share a common weapon in decreasing transmission — increased access to testing. With COVID-19, health professionals understood the need for at-home testing and as a result they have mailed out millions of free, at-home tests to Americans and we’ve seen a rapid decline as a result.  But, the same is not true for STI’s. Patients have always been required to go into a lab or clinical setting in person for STI testing and as a result, access to testing has long been a primary barrier to reducing STI transmission rates in Florida.

But all of that is changing.

 

Reducing Barriers

The combination of scientific breakthroughs and modern platform integration technology have made it possible for self-collected specimens to provide validated test results to be followed up by clinical care. These developments are eliminating geographic barriers like access to in-person testing and discomfort due to discrimination or stigma, which often accompanies in-person STI testing. Many point to these barriers as the primary reason for Orlando’s high transmission rates. Orlando residents may now forego in-person visits to a lab, but we still have a long way to go to get medical practices and insurance companies to amend processes to support self-collected specimen testing.

 

At-Home Testing Unlocks Huge Potential

We know that more testing is needed if we are to reverse rapidly escalating rates of STI transmission. We must creatively overcome every barrier to testing access if we are to be successful. As an infectious disease physician and after 35 years working in the HIV and STI space, I have joined a movement committed to eliminating barriers to testing and care; in fact, a silver lining of the COVID pandemic has been the expansion of policy, the science, and the patient embrace of at-home testing. COVID has demonstrated that at-home testing unlocks access to testing and thus facilitates reduction of disease transmission. For instance, a recent analysis by Molecular Testing Labs and Q Care Plus demonstrated that among over 5,000 patients, 84% preferred undertaking PrEP-related STI and HIV testing at-home. This is authentic patient-centered testing and care!

COVID-19 has taught us many lessons, top among them that increased testing is among the most effective ways to address otherwise uncontrolled spread of infectious diseases. I can say without a doubt that laws encouraging and requiring coverage of innovative and proven testing approaches will interrupt forward transmission of infections and save lives, particularly among those with limited access to care and who are otherwise disenfranchised by our healthcare system.

Federal and State agencies in Florida should follow the lead of other state and local governments who set aside money to promote the availability of and access to at-home STI testing and attendant treatment.  Insurance companies and state payors also should rapidly implement streamlined reimbursement practices to ensure these tests are covered and that patients are not being charged in error, which inhibits access to testing and care.

 

My career was informed by lessons learned in epic public health crises like HIV and the COVID-19 pandemic. Our data demonstrate that expanded, affordable access to at-home self-collected testing can overcome stigma and reduce infection spread. We have the tools to identify and eliminate STIs in our communities. We should use them.

 

Dr. Christopher Hall serves as the Medical Director of Clinical Affairs at Molecular Testing Labs, pioneering self-collected STI testing. He began his 30-year career in HIV/STI policy, research, care and prevention working with the National AIDS Network in Washington, D.C. and later the National Coalition of STD Directors and the California Department of Public Health.